


Amnesia

by theamazingloki



Category: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Comedy, Drama, F/M, M/M, Multi, Romance, caleo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-03-19 21:45:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 62,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3625356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theamazingloki/pseuds/theamazingloki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: When Leo returns to Calypso’s island she thought that she might finally be able to be with the one she loved, but when Leo’s death and the Physician’s Cure somehow wiped his memory, how can Calypso get them out of Ogygia? And how could she possibly get his memory back?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Calypso hadn’t lost hope.

She wasn’t exactly sure how long it had been since Leo had inevitably left her, but to her it felt like centuries had gone by. She was sure that were he any other hero, the sharp pangs of pain that coursed through her at the thought of him would have been reduced at the very least to a dull ache by now, if not gone completely. 

But of course, Leo wasn’t just any other hero.

Usually, heroes would simply wash ashore on the crest of a gentle wave, injured and at the cusp of death. Usually, Calypso couldn’t help but be struck by their appearance, they always looked like heroes: strong, built, and handsome. Usually, Calypso would gently care for them and nurse them to health. Usually, Calypso grew to care for them before they even opened their eyes, knowing all the while that they had undoubtedly gone through some particularly terrible ordeal, nearly giving up their lives for the sake of their cause. Usually, they would open their eyes and gaze at Calypso like she was the most beautiful woman in the world, stumbling about their words, staring after her, sometimes openly singing praises to her.

And usually, they would laze about the island with her until they received some reminder from the outside world, telling them it was time to leave and rejoin the real world. Time to go back to their quest. Time to go back to the woman they loved. Usually, Calypso would desperately ask them to stay with her, to leave their world behind and love her as much as she did them. 

And always, they left.

 

Leo, true to form, had completely disregarded tradition. She would often think back to the day Leo had so spectacularly crash-landed on her island; the boy certainly knew how to make an entrance. Of all the heroes and all the millennia that she had lived through, she never saw anything or anyone even come close to making that kind of scene. Leo had been different from the second he caught sight of Ogygia. From afar, he had looked like nothing more than a skinny, lanky little elfling covered in grease and soot and sweat, the mop of dark curly hair atop his head looking like a bird’s nest. 

And gods did the mere sight of him make her angry. Ogygia was supposed to be a calm and peaceful prison, and just like that Leo shattered it—or well, her table at least. The one that she’d taken decades to carve centuries ago when she had gone through a carpentry phase (there were only so many things she could do in her small little island). He certainly hadn’t looked like a hero. He didn’t act like one. And when he so quickly snapped back at Calypso’s comment gods did she loathe him. 

He hadn’t even spared more than a passing glance at her! He’d acted like she was nothing more than an annoyance, someone not even worth taking note of. Not that Calypso was shallow, but in all the millennia that she’d been on this island, no one had ever treated her like that—she wasn’t even sure how to relate with mortals that weren’t taken by her. So she stayed angry and resolved to get him off the island, pronto.

Of course, as her luck would have it, the one time she actually wanted the raft to appear was the one time it wouldn’t. Because she clearly wasn’t in love with him. She didn’t think she could ever fall in love with this boy. At this point, it just seemed cruel that the gods would do this to her, after all, she’d done nothing wrong! Why would they stick her with him?

She later realized that the things she said to Leo that night were undeserving and uncalled for, but at the time she’d been so furious with the gods that she took it out on the only person who would hear her. She remembered storming off to her garden in a fit of tears; the gods were supposed to set her free by now, not send another hero! And if they were to send one, did it really have to be this kid?! So of course, she lashed out at Leo again, after he managed to put all the dots together and figure out her curse.

And yet, once more, Leo didn’t react how she’d come to expect. He didn’t resign himself to his fate, he didn’t curse the gods (like she wanted to), but instead he walked away and started looking for a way out. For the few first weeks, Leo mostly kept away from her (another first), Calypso sent him provisions, and aside from brief encounters, she was almost able to forget he was even on her island. 

And then the clanging began. For a few days, she just gritted her teeth and pretended it wasn’t there. She had been tending to her garden in peace when she heard it, a big “CLANG” that startled the birds straight out of their nests and sent them flying. She tried to ignore it again, but when she bent down to resume her work she heard it again “CLANG” and then once more. She huffed in annoyance and resigned herself to count ten and relax, but when yet another “CLANG” interrupted her she shot up and stormed to his campsite before she even registered what she was doing. Then, she noticed the uneaten baskets of food sitting at the edge of her garden and realized the fool wasn’t even eating. How was he going to find a way out of her island if he was too weak? 

Once again, when she addressed Leo he replied with sarcasm and didn’t even bother to look up at her entrance. ‘Look at me, dammit!’ she thought. And then, he did. It was like a white hot flame ran through her. There he was, surrounded by equipment and half-finished machines he’d built out of his own hand, his shirt singed and covered in grime, his curly hair sweaty and plastered to his face, his skin glowing with a sheen of sweat, his arm held up holding a hammer, showing strong muscles she hadn’t realized he’d had. And when she looked into his eyes she saw such fierce determination that at that moment Calypso would have believed he was capable of anything; at that moment, she realized that this wasn’t just some scrawny, annoying little kid. Leo would do whatever he needed to do to get off this island, and she couldn’t help the feeling of admiration she felt towards him at that moment. 

“I’m hoping to get off this island,” he’d said, “that is what you want, right?”

She scowled. Of course he wanted to be off this island, what was she thinking, finding praise-worthy traits in him? Distracted, she dropped off the food and went back to her cave. Clearly, she was getting desperate for attention, because there was definitely nothing attractive about Leo. Nothing at all. Definitely not the way he’d looked so at home with his forge. Definitely not the resolve in his eyes, or the confidence in his work. Definitely not the way he’d so easily disregarded the god’s wills and decided to make his own path. Definitely not. 

Calypso resolved once again to ignore Leo’s existence, and she was doing a pretty good job of it, until she walked by her fountain on the way to her garden the next day. It was no longer making weird noises and spouting water in awkward intervals like it had for a few decades, and she knew Leo had fixed it. She set out to work on her garden, but when she took out her tools she realized they were all gleaming, looking wickedly sharp, like they had when she’d first gotten them from Hermes some centuries ago. She sighed, not wanting to be reminded of Leo, and went back to her cave, only to once more see he’d fixed something of hers. 

Somewhat impressed at the elf-boy’s efficiency, Calypso decided that since he’d done such a kindness for her, she should at least pay him in kind. She wondered what she could to for him that would be helpful for him on his journey and looked around the room, and when her eyes landed on her loom, an idea quickly sprung to mind. Over the time Leo had been here, he’d burned through more pairs of clothes than she’d thought was even possible, so she decided she’d provide him with clothes that could withstand the flames that seemed to constantly spring from his body. 

As she was beginning her work, she decided to use some of her limited power to scry into his past to see what modern clothes looked like nowadays—when Leo left this island, perhaps he could take a bit of her magic with him? Once she was done, she folded her finished products over her arm and headed out to meet him (and she most definitely did not re-do her braid to look more presentable, twice. She didn’t!)

When she approached his work-site once more, she was once again surprised at just how much work he’d gotten done. He was diligently working on some strange mirror-looking contraption, entirely focused on his task. So focused in fact, that he once again failed to notice her presence. 

“Bronze bulls, girl!” he’d jumped, and when he looked at her his eyes were wild, “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“I wasn’t sneaking, I was bringing you these.” 

Leo looked at the clothes in her arms, a confused expression clouding his face, “How?”

Slowly, unsure of how to deal with a suddenly inquisitive Leo, she placed the clothes at his feet and stepped away, explaining the nature of her gift. For once, Leo actually appeared like he was impressed by her—well, maybe not by her but by what she could do. That was a first, usually men would be awed by her beauty and then sometimes realize that there was something more to her. But that was an incredibly rare thing. 

And then, shocking her once more, his face had light up and he gave her the most cocky, infuriating, adorable grin, “Oh yeah. You’re really warming up to me.”

‘What? The little—’ she could actually feel her face reddening, “You are the most insufferable person I have ever met! I was only returning a favor. You fixed my fountain.” 

As if she would ever “warm up” to this annoying, obnoxious—he laughed, “That? That was no big deal. I don’t like it when things don’t work right.”

“And the curtains across the cave entrance?” she challenged

“The rod wasn’t level.” He replied evenly.

“And my gardening tools?”

“Look, I just sharpened the shears. Cutting vines with a dull blade is dangerous. And the pruners needed to be oiled at the hinge, and—”

She cut him off, seizing the opportunity to get even with him, “Oh yeah,” she imitated his voice as best she could, “you’re really warming up to me.”

And then, magically, Leo was speechless. He stared at her, wide-eyed, looking impressed by her. Looking exactly the way heroes usually looked at her. And yet, this time, he was actually impressed by her wit, her personality. Suddenly, Calypso felt that strange heat wash over her once more and, feeling pleased with herself, she carried on the conversation.

“What are you building?” she said, as she looked a bit closer at his work. It just looked like a giant mirror, but she was confident that there was a bit more to it than that.

“Oh,” he turned towards it, “it’s a seeing device, we found one like this in Rome, in the workshop of Archimedes. If I can make it work, maybe I can find out what’s going on with my friends.”

‘Oh Leo,’ she shook her head, disappointed that he’d wasted his time, “That’s impossible. This island is hidden, cut off from the world by strong magic. Time doesn’t even flow the same here.” 

He furrowed his brown, his eyes locked on her with that strange ferocity, “Well, you’ve got to have some kind of outside contact. How did you find out that I used to wear an army jacket?”

She twisted her hair, uncomfortable under his stare. Had he always had this intense, wild look about him? “Seeing the past is simple magic. Seeing the present or the future— that is not.” 

“Yeah, well,” Leo said. “Watch and learn, Sunshine. I just connect these last two wires, and—” The bronze plate sparked. Smoke billowed from the sphere. A flash of fire raced up Leo’s sleeve. He pulled off his shirt, threw it down, and stomped on it.

Calypso tried her hardest to hold down her laugh, she really did. And yet, when Leo turned to her and muttered “Not a word,” she knew she’d failed miserably. 

She caught a sight of his bare chest, his sweat gleaming under the light of the fire, and noticed a multitude of scars crisscrossing all over it. What exactly had this boy been through? “Nothing worth commenting on,” she said, hoping to distract from the fact that she’d most definitely been staring. Then, getting an inkling of an idea, she suggested he try a musical invocation. 

He, of course, replied with his usual sarcasm. Suddenly seizing the opportunity to show off just a bit, Calypso took a breath and began to sing. She sang an old Greek nursery rhyme, one that reminded her of her childhood before she was corrupted by the gods or the Titans, a song of better times and better days. It was easy for a sorceress like herself to weave her magic into the song, willing it to give the machine whatever extra boost it needed to function properly.

She couldn’t help feeling a bit pleased that she’d made Leo gape at her like an idiot twice in one day. ‘As he should.’ Somewhat smug, she turned to him, “Any luck?”

He hastily fiddled with the contraption, and suddenly images appeared in the air above it. Of course, she didn’t recognize or really understand what was going on in those images, but Leo drank everything in, staring at it with rapt attention. He mentioned Percy offhand, and when he quickly glanced at her to make sure she was okay, Calypso struggled to decide what exactly she felt at that moment. Though she gathered that it had only been a few years in the mortal world, by now, Calypso left that it had been at least a decade since Percy had been on her island.

Calypso had fallen for Percy just like she had for the other heroes, because he was just like the other heroes. Brave, strong, bold, destined to leave, and hopelessly in love with somebody else. And yet, it didn’t hurt to think of him anymore, not in that way. She was no longer angry at him, not cursing his fate and his Annabeth, she’d accepted, just as she had with all the others, that Percy was simply not for her. Maybe, just maybe, there was somebody else out there for her, someone who—and just like that the image of a girl came on. She looked strong, fierce, like a warrior, like a person who got things done, like someone reliable; like someone worth fighting for and going home to. Calypso couldn’t help it, her anger cut off the flow of magic. 

“No!” Leo yelled. “No, not now. Show me what happens!” He banged on the mirror. “Calypso, can you sing again or something?” 

For reasons she didn’t care to admit right now, she was angry. Really angry. “I suppose that is your girlfriend? Your Penelope? Your Elizabeth? Your Annabeth?” 

“What?” He looked genuinely confused, could it be…? “That’s Reyna. She’s not my girlfriend! I need to see more! I need—” 

NEED, NEED is an overused word. A humanoid figure appeared from the ground, and Calypso felt a cold wave rush through her body, ‘No…it can’t be…’

And yet it was, there, in her very own little haven, stood a grotesque resemblance of Gaea. The Earth Mother, who had not risen for millennia—if she was awakened…what exactly was Leo’s quest…?

True to form, Leo bravely hurled some pliers at her, but because she wasn’t solid they sailed right past her. 

The voice rumbled again, You want to live. You want to join your friends. But you do not need this, my poor boy. It would make no difference. Your friends will die, regardless.

Calypso could feel Leo shaking behind her, and then he angrily burst out, “What I don’t need,” he growled, “is more lies from you, Dirt Face. You told me my great-granddad died in the 1960s. Wrong! You told me I couldn’t save my friends in Rome. Wrong! You told me a lot of things.”

‘Did he just refer to the Earth Mother as “Dirt Face”?!’ Calypso swirled her head around, surprised. Was he that brave or that stupid? She honestly couldn’t decide. 

Gaea’s laughter was soft and dangerous, and the hairs on Calypso’s neck stood straight, I tried to help you make better choices. You could have saved yourself. But you defied me at every step. You built your ship. You joined that foolish quest. Now you are trapped here, helpless, while the mortal world dies.

How involved was Leo with Gaea? Calypso had thought that he was some kind of second rate hero, she’d guessed he was on a quest, but she never believed it was one as monumental as this. The fate of the entire planet rested upon this quest. Upon Leo’s quest. ‘What he must have gone through…no wonder he’s so determined to leave.’

She saw Leo’s hands burst into flame and knew that he was about to take it too far, “Gaea,” she said, “You are not welcome.”

Ah, Calypso. Gaea turned to her and raised her arms as if for a hug. Still here, I see, despite the gods’ promises. Why do you think that is, my dear grandchild? Are the Olympians being spiteful, leaving you with no company except this undergrown fool? Or have they simply forgotten you, because you are not worth their time?

Calypso remained firm, uncomfortable with just how accurate Gaea’s words were. She continued, Yes. The Olympians are faithless. They do not give second chances. Why do you hold out hope? You supported your father, Atlas, in his great war. You knew that the gods must be destroyed. Why do you hesitate now? I offer you a chance that Zeus would never give you. 

“Where were you these last three thousand years?” Calypso asked, “If you are so concerned with my fate, why do you visit me only now?” 

Gaea turned up her palms. The earth is slow to wake. War comes in its own time. But do not think it will pass you by on Ogygia. When I remake the world, this prison will be destroyed as well. 

“Ogygia destroyed?” Calypso shook her head, sure the island might not be much, but this was her home. 

You do not have to be here when that happens, Gaea promised. Join me now. Kill this boy. Spill his blood upon the earth, and help me to wake. I will free you and grant you any wish. Freedom. Revenge against the gods. Even a prize. Would you still have the demigod Percy Jackson? I will spare him for you. I will raise him from Tartarus. He will be yours to punish or to love, as you choose. Only kill this trespassing boy. Show your loyalty.

Steel cold resolve settled into her bones. Gaea was clearly blind if she believed Calypso would so easily spill innocent blood upon her land. Her Ogygia. Sure, Leo was annoying and a bigger pain than anyone she’d ever met, but he was a good person, he didn’t deserve to die like that. 

She thrust her hand out at Gaea in the ancient motion to ward against evil, “This is not just my prison, Grandmother. It is my home. And you are the trespasser.”

At the clear intonation of unwelcome, the magic surrounding the island dispelled the spirit of Gaea that vanished in the wind. 

She heard Leo swallow and turn to her, “Uh, don’t take this the wrong way, but you didn’t kill me. Are you crazy?” 

Calypso took a breath, angry at Gaea for torturing this demigod; he didn’t deserve whatever the Earth Mother had planned for him. “Your friends must need you, or else Gaea would not ask for your death.” 

“I— uh, yeah. I guess.” 

“Then we have work to do,” she resolved. “We must get you back to your ship.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Calypso falls in love

After understanding just how vital it was that Leo return to his quest, Calypso decided to help Leo get on his way as quickly as possible. She prepared provisions for his trip on the first day, and on the second day she made herself some clothes similar to Leo’s (jeans and a t-shirt, he’d called them) and figured she might as well help in whatever way she could. 

When Leo saw her that morning he spared her a second glanced and inquired about the change, and she admitted that they looked somewhat more practical than a dress. But perhaps, a tiny part of her just wanted to feel like she was a regular mortal girl in the modern world, surrounded by Leo’s machines and away from her cave, she could almost pretend that she, too was leaving Ogigya to join the world. Almost. 

As if he’d read her mind, Leo started, “What Gaea said…about you getting off this island. Would you want to try it?”

Calypso felt a big THUMP in her chest, ‘Oh Leo…’ she explained to him that he couldn’t leave, and yet part of her wanted to jump up and scream “YES! YES! I’D LOVE TO GO!” But now that she knew just how important Leo’s quest was, she couldn’t just let his slim chance of success diminish because of her selfishness. 

“Why would you care about that?” he asked. “I mean, after being away from the world for so long?”

She stared, ‘Was that actually a sensible question? This boy will never seize to surprise me.’ 

“I suppose I don’t like being told what to do— by Gaea or anyone else. As much as I hate the gods sometimes, over the past three millennia I’ve come to see that they’re better than the Titans. They’re definitely better than the giants. At least the gods kept in touch. Hermes has always been kind to me. And your father, Hephaestus, has often visited. He is a good person.” As was Leo, annoying as he was. 

She proceeded to insist on helping him, and he seemed pleased to find that she was willing. When she began to weave the bronze coils with ease he smiled, “Huh, well if you ever get off this island and want a job, let me know. You’re not a total klutz.”

She wasn’t quite sure what a “klutz” was, but she did think Leo had just complimented her, she smirked, amused at the idea of her having a job, did women have jobs nowadays? “A job, eh? Making things in your forge?” Of course he’d want her to work for him. Boys. 

“Nah, we could start our own shop,” Leo said, surprising her, “Leo and Calypso’s Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters.”

“Fresh fruits and vegetables,” she smiled. 

“Cider and stew,” Leo added. “We could even provide entertainment. You could sing and I could, like, randomly burst into flames.” 

Calypso couldn’t help it; she tilted her head back and laughed. When was the last time she’d laughed like this?

“See,” he said looking at her, suddenly both shy and proud of himself, “I’m funny.” 

She forced her smile down, she couldn’t let him think that she liked him or anything, “You are not funny. Now, get back to work, or no cider and stew.”

“Yes ma’am!” He nodded, and resumed his work.

They continued working in a comfortable silence, and Calypso found herself surprised to find how at ease she was with this boy. Whenever she had to embark on a new project or didn’t quite understand what Leo needed her to do, he was patient and clear with his instructions, showing a confidence in himself that was a lot more genuine than the jokes and front he put on. This, working with his hands, getting grimy and focused, this was his happy place. This is where he found his solace. 

In a way that surprised her, Calypso realized that she could relate to him on this level. Though she didn’t make all these crazy machines like Leo did, Calypso had also found her calling in working with her hands. When she tended her gardens, Calypso found peace, she was confident and centered, and she could focus on it for hours and not mind one bit. Perhaps, just maybe, they weren’t that different after all. 

On the second day Calypso felt right at home with Leo’s strange machinery. Unbidden and unwatched, the thought crept into her mind, ‘I could see myself doing this, with him. I could be happy.’ She almost dropped the wires in my hand. 

It was true though, the more familiar she became with Leo, the more she began to appreciate him as an individual. Though Leo continued to throw random jokes out as he worked, she found herself laughing along with him on several occasions; he was maybe a little bit funny. As the day progressed, he began to tell her a bit more about his quest, about his friends Piper and Jason, his best friends, and his new friends Hazel, Frank, Nico, even Percy and Annabeth. 

When Leo got to talking about the things he’d built, it was hard not to smile at him. His face lit up entirely when he talked about his dragon Festus and his Argo II, he became animated and babbled on about the machinery and upgrades and threw out a bunch of words that Calypso had no idea what they meant. And yet she didn’t have the heart to stop him, he was so happy and so proud of himself. She realized it was the same way she felt about her beautiful garden, something that she had worked on entirely by herself, something that made her proud of what her own two hands could do. She could appreciate that. 

 

A couple of nights later, they finished his “guidance console.” Calypso still had no idea exactly what the thing was supposed to do, but Leo had been so careful and specific about everything that she simply trusted that he knew what he was doing. 

They were eating a picnic on the beach after a long day’s work when she realized something, “All we need now is a boat.” She winced internally, the “we” had slipped out unintentionally, she’d worked so hard on this console with Leo that she had almost confused herself into believing that she could go too. ‘You foolish girl.’

 

Leo nodded his head, “I can start chopping wood into boards tomorrow. Few days, we’ll have enough for a small hull.”

We. The word was like a dagger, ‘Oh no…’ She swallowed, willing her voice to stay even, “You’ve made a ship before, your Argo II.” She steadied her resolve and turned to him, “So how long until you sail?” ‘How long until you leave, just like everyone else?’

“Uh, not sure. Another week?” he said, trying to meet her gaze. 

Calypso ran her fingers across the completed circuit board. “This took so long to make.” Part of her had believed that the ship would take longer to make, that perhaps he might stay just a little bit longer…

“You can’t rush perfection.” He’d said it so simply, confident, proud. 

A smile tugged at the edge of her mouth. “Yes, but will it work?”

“Getting out, no problem,” Leo said. “But to get back I’ll need Festus and—”

Calypso’s breath failed her, “What?!”

Leo blinked. “Festus. My bronze dragon. Once I figure out how to rebuild him, I’ll—” 

“You told me about Festus,” Calypso said. “But what do you mean get back?” 

Leo grinned , as if nervous. “Well… to get back here, duh. I’m sure I said that.”

“You most definitely did not.” 

“I’m not gonna leave you here! After you helped me and everything? Of course I’m coming back. Once I rebuild Festus, he’ll be able to handle an improved guidance system. There’s this astrolabe that I, uh…” He stopped, looking like he’d wanted to say something more but holding back for some reason. “… that I found in Bologna. Anyway, I think with that crystal you gave me—” 

“You can’t come back,” Calypso insisted. 

Leo’s face dropped, “Because I’m not welcome?”

She felt like a giant was sitting on her chest, ‘Oh Leo, don’t…’ She tried again, “Because you can’t. It’s impossible. No man finds Ogygia twice. That is the rule.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, you might’ve noticed I’m not good at following rules. I’m coming back here with my dragon, and we’ll spring you. Take you wherever you want to go. It’s only fair.” 

“Fair…” he looked so certain, sitting there by the fire, holding the product of his labor in his hand. And he talked about fairness, when had anyone ever been concerned with what was fair for her? When had anyone tried to fight her on this issue? When had anyone been so incredibly sure that they could rescue her from her fate? After the gods cast her out in this island, Calypso never dared to consider what was fair, they held the power and they issued out her sentence—gods didn’t concern themselves with fairness. No one ever considered what she deserved. 

He continued, “You didn’t really think I could start Leo and Calypso’s Auto Repair without Calypso, did you?” he asked. “I can’t make cider and stew, and I sure can’t sing.” 

She stared at the sand. He had meant it. He meant every word he’d said to her. While she had berated herself for even pretending for a second that he would come back for her and spirit her away to the mortal world, while she told herself she was an idiot for believing he meant what he said about opening up that repair shop with her…he’d believed it all. 

And then, she knew. It felt as if she’d been struck by lightning and a shock went through her entire system as she realized that she was madly, desperately, truly in love with this boy. With a sudden clarity, Calypso realized that the love she had for Leo was different from anything she’d ever experienced. It was not a love at first sight, it was not one that came from admiration and adoration, it was a love that was built up over time, one that was slow to come and had to be earned. One that crept up on you when you never even saw it coming. A love of companionship, of true equals. A love of soulmates. She knew that she would never, could never love another the way she loved Leo Valdez. 

“Well, anyway,” Leo spoke, and yet somehow he sounded so far away to her, “tomorrow I’ll start on the lumber. And in a few days…”

When he trailed of, she knew exactly what it meant. Of course, how could it not? There was that ever present raft, there to take away the one she loved. She had never hated the gods more than she did at that moment. 

Steeling her resolve, Calypso knew that Leo couldn’t spend another moment on this island. As much as she loved him, as much as she wanted him to stay with her, she knew that she couldn’t offer him a chance to stay. The fate of the world rested on Leo’s shoulders, and Calypso simply was not that selfish. She would never know what he truly felt for her, but it didn’t matter, she couldn’t sway his resolve by revealing the depth of her feelings. 

She jumped up, “Hurry! I don’t know how long it will stay!” that was a lie, she knew that raft would stay for as long as she continued to love him, it would stay forever if he chose to stay. She grabbed the supply bags and stowed them on the raft, trying to keep busy to hold back the tears she already felt pricking at her eyes. 

“But…” Leo looked so lost she almost lost her resolve, “That’s the magic raft?”

“Duh!” Calypso yelled. “It might work like it’s supposed to and take you where you want to go. But we can’t be sure. The island’s magic is obviously unstable. You must rig up your guidance device to navigate.” Lies, lies, lies! She needed him to get off this island, he had to go save the world. He had to leave her behind. 

She snatched up the console and Leo moved with her this time, both of them working perfectly in sync—as if they’d been doing this forever. Much too soon, everything was ready. Leo was ready to set sail and leave Ogygia forever. 

She took a breath, “Go.”

Leo turned, and all of a sudden he was much to close, “The raft finally got here.”

She tried to mirror his previous attitude, laughing off her pain with a snort, looking up as if annoyed but really holding back tears, “You just noticed?”

“But if it only shows up for guys you like—”

“Don’t push your luck, Leo Valdez,” she said. “I still hate you.” There was definitely no way he’d believe that. 

“Okay.” He looked at her, wide-eyed, as if not believing what this really meant.

“And you are not coming back here,” she insisted. “So don’t give me any empty promises.”

“How about a full promise?” he said. “Because I’m definitely—”

She couldn’t hold herself back anymore, he was so close, and so she did the one thing she’d always stopped herself from doing to all previous heroes—she grabbed a hold of his face and pulled him in for a kiss. The kiss was rushed, messy, and absolutely perfect, and she pushed him away before she could fully appreciate it. 

“That didn’t happen.” He had to leave, now. Before he got a chance to think about it.

“Okay.” His voice sounded an octave higher than usual.

“Get out of here.” 

“Okay.”

She turned away, wiping her eyes, not wanting to see him leave like she’d watched every hero leave before him. She didn’t want his last memory of her to be of the weeping girl on the shore. She’d like to believe that Leo grew to love her just as much as she loved him, and if he would carry this with him for the rest of his life, she wanted him to remember her as strong, worthy of his love. 

When she heard the raft course over the water she knew that was the last she’d ever see of Leo Valdez. But then, suddenly, with a chill, Calypso heard Leo’s voice one last time.

“I’m coming back for you, Calypso. I swear it on the River Styx.”

She hurtled around, looking wildly out to the sea, but he was already gone. ‘Oh no, no, no, no! Leo! What have you done?!’ and just like that Calypso was certain that Leo cursed himself to an eternity in Tartarus. What had he done?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Leo comes back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for getting this far into the story, I hope you're enjoying it so far :) I come up with the idea for this yesterday and typed out the first three chapters in one go, so let me know if you think i should continue and what you think about it in general. The first three chapters are just establishing the themes of what I want to center the story around and were primarily to get everything caught up on Calypso's end through Blood of Olympus. I will try to keep everything as close to the original as possible, but don't be surprised if you see some slight alterations!
> 
> Next chapter will be told from Leo's point of view, and I'm very excited to delve into his psyche. Enjoy, and feel free to leave me your thoughts!

After Leo left, Calypso slowly got back into her old routine. And yet, this time, everything felt different. She didn’t feel any bitterness towards Leo like she’d felt for all the other heroes before him. She wasn’t angry at him for leaving, and she didn’t hate herself for letting him go. She continued to hurt for him every day, and would often wake up at night with dreams of him, but most of her was just glad that she’d gotten the opportunity to know Leo. 

After staying the same for millennia, Leo was the one who managed to change her. Almost like she was yet another one of his machines that he’d swooped in and fixed. Leo’s oath often haunted her, but eventually she grew to believe that maybe Leo could be the one to find Ogygia twice, she had faith in him and knew that he’d somehow find a way. 

Sometimes, she’d picture him appearing out of the air, riding his golden dragon that he’d described to her. Perhaps he would even come in a blaze of fire and broken machinery like he had before. She didn’t care how he’d make his entrance; she just knew that he would. 

And then, one day, she felt it. 

She’d been diligently tending her garden as she did every day when a sudden pain went through her body. She felt as if her insides were burning up, and she felt as if her very soul was being ripped out of her chest. If she was a mortal, she’d think she was dying. 

A mortal. 

“LEO!!!” She screamed, pained, and at that moment she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that Leo Valdez was dead.   
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She wasn’t sure how many days she lay there. She wasn’t sure if it was the lingering pain that held her, or the shock. She couldn’t find it in her to care. Never in her life had she wished to be a mortal until this very moment. What else could she live for? Leo was dead. What was the point of anything anymore? How could she ever find happiness again?

But then, one day, something happened. She felt a strange warmth rush through her, and somehow she heard the sound of a heartbeat. Slow, at first, sputtering and weak, but gradually, it grew stronger. It evened out. Calypso breathed. 

“Leo?” she whispered, and with her eyes closed she could see him clearly, smiling at her, laughing at his own stupid joke. 

The pure joy that rushed through her, the certainty that took over her mind, it was clear as day. Leo Valdez had found a way to cheat death. And he was on his way.

Every day, Calypso woke up thinking, maybe today will be the day, but every day so far it wasn’t. Every day that Leo didn’t show up crushed her, but she didn’t doubt him. He would come, no matter how long it took. And she would wait. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The day Leo came back to her started out like any other day. It was just past noon and Calypso was taking a stroll through the coast, looking out into the horizon to see if she could see anything. When she spotted the distant speck in the sky, she almost dismissed it as a trick of her mind, but as it got progressively bigger she felt her hands begin to shake. 

It was definitely a giant bronze dragon. And it was headed straight for her. 

She suddenly yelped and ran off, realizing that Leo was about to make yet another spectacular crash landing onto her island. Festus crashed heavily into the shore, he was on fire and bronze parts were flying out in each and every direction, had she not seen Leo walk away from a similar landing before she would have been worried, but all she wanted was for the smoke to clear out. All she wanted was to see him. 

And then, there he was. Standing amidst the smoke, brushing his hands off on his jeans—the jeans she’d made for him. With a shock, Calypso realized that he’d grown. Leo stood taller than before, his elfish face had narrowed out into a handsome one, his chest looked firm, not quite muscular, but now he actually looked like a man who worked in a forge doing manual labor all day. But that mop of curly hair was the same, the nervous, twitchy hands were the same, the wild eyes darting about were the same; it was just Leo, her hero. 

When he finally caught sight of her his eyes widened. Calypso smiled, and he stared at her, dazed, as if not believing he’d made it. 

Unable to bear the separation any longer, Calypso ran straight at him and hugged him fiercely. He stood still, shocked, but she didn’t wait for him to hug her in return. She stepped back, grabbed him by his face as she’d done so many years ago, and kissed him. 

Again, Leo stood still, frozen solid. But slowly, he returned her kiss, winding his hands into her hair, the other one resting at the small of her back. This is what she’d been waiting for, this, her Leo, come back for her, ready to spirit her away—

And then he suddenly broke off the kiss and pushed her back. 

She blinked, “Leo?”

He gaped at her, looking utterly confused, and somewhat embarrassed. “Look lady, you’re like, incredibly hot and all, and I’m all for sharing the love, but umm…who the hell are you and why are you kissing me?”

She felt the world freeze around her. After everything, after all the years she’d waited, after all the times she’d had her heart broken, after he broke the curse and found his way back to her, after all of that….

Could the gods be this cruel?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Thanks for reading! This chapter will be told from Leo's point of view, I've already started on the next one and it should be out by the end of the week, which will also be from his POV. I tried keeping a bit of that Valdez humor in here, so let me know what you think :)

When Leo woke up, he was flying.

He had no idea where on _earth_ he was, or what in the _hell_ he was doing sitting on the back of a giant metal dragon thousands of feet in the air. Actually, he had no idea who the hell he _was_.

He might have panicked, a bit. In a _manly_ way. That strange squealing sound most definitely did _not_ come out of his throat when he looked down and saw nothing but ocean stretching out in every direction.

“Oh shit, shit, shit, shit…where am I? How do I fly this thing?” he muttered to himself frantically, looking down to the bright panels of buttons sitting in front of him. He had absolutely no idea what any of the buttons meant, and there wasn’t any kind of steering wheel or joystick on this dragon; so naturally he did the only thing that seemed logical. He pushed the big red button.

And yes, he regretted it instantly.

All of a sudden, the lights emanating out of the panels shut off and the dragon’s head drooped down. The wings went slack and the entire dragon tilted downwards, accelerating rapidly.

“AAAAAAAGHHHHHHHH!!!” he frantically tried hitting all the buttons in front of him, trying to not fall off at the same time, but to no avail. He was going to die not knowing who he was or what he was doing. Awesome.

As the dragon continued to lose altitude, he saw them pierce a strange layer of mist, and realized they were headed straight for a small little island. _‘Well,’_ he thought, _‘maybe someone will see my epic death and tell the media all about it.’_ He could see it now, the pretty reporter standing in front of the impact site, a big headline reading “Comet Boy Crashes and Burns” flashing right below it. His body would probably be mangled beyond recognition, so no one would ever figure out who he was or come claim his body. It would be a great story; maybe people would think he was an alien or something!

The dragon was about 100 yards from impact and he shut his eyes to prepare for his death, _‘Goodbye, cruel world!’_ he thought dramatically as he felt the dragon crash and burn below him.

Then, he ate sand. _‘Unghhhhh…’_ He opened his eyes and spit out all the sand from his mouth, all around him the dragon was engulfed in flames— _he_ was engulfed in flames. And yet, strangely, it didn’t burn him. He felt warm, almost comforted, almost like…As he stood up, the flames on his body went out, and he stepped out of the wreckage, wiping his hands on his jeans absentmindedly as he took in his surroundings. He couldn’t believe he wasn’t dead….

 That’s when he first laid eyes on her.

Standing not 15 feet in front of him was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life. Sure, he had no memory of any women he’d ever seen before, but he was sure that no one could ever be as beautiful as this one. She looked like an ancient Greek goddess, wearing a red Greek-style dress that showed off her sun-tanned skin, her long caramel colored hair blowing freely in the wind, her feet were bare, and those beautiful almond eyes were trained on his.

She smiled right at him, and Leo felt the air rush out of his lungs, _‘Gods above, she’s gorgeous!’_ he thought.

And then, as if this situation couldn’t be any more surreal, she ran straight at him and threw her arms around him. He froze, not quite knowing how to react. He barely had time to notice the scent of cinnamon hanging about her before she pulled back, grabbed his face, and kissed him.

A warm sensation ran through his body as he felt her lips on his. After a moment, he realized he should probably do something—I mean here he was, the most drop dead gorgeous girl in the world kissing him, and he was just _standing_ there! So naturally, he kissed her back.

Gods, that was some kiss.

As he deepened the kiss, he wove his hands through her long locks, his other hand going about her small waist. He wasn’t sure what kind of experience he’d had with kissing, but he was pretty sure this was the best kiss he’d ever had in his life. Whoever this girl was, she must really dig him. He couldn’t believe he was this lucky, there he was, thinking he was about to die, and instead he gets this. He would willingly lose his memory every day of his life if it meant he’d get a girl like this to kiss him.

 _‘This is wrong,’_ the thought, unwelcome, ran through his mind, _‘I have no idea who she is.’_

And so with a bit more force than he intended, he broke off the kiss and pushed her away from him. She looked up at him, confusion and just a bit of hurt in her eyes, “Leo?”

Had he mentioned how beautiful she was? Because with her swollen lips and her messy hair, she looked even _more_ amazing—if that was even possible. He was pretty sure he was gaping at her like an idiot.

 _‘Leo…is that me? Does this girl really know me? Does she….care for me?’_            

“Look lady, you’re like, incredibly hot and all,” he told her, “and I’m all for sharing the love but umm…who the hell are you and why are you kissing me?”

She took a step back, as if she’d been struck, and he winced. He hadn’t meant for it to come out so harsh, but he’d been awake for less than ten minutes and he was incredibly confused. Questions rushed through his mind at lightning speed and he was starting to get a migraine.

“Leo…you don’t,” she looked shell-shocked, like she really couldn’t believe he’d just said that, “you don’t remember me?”

He felt bad, _really_ bad, “I’m sorry, but I don’t. I don’t even know who _I_ am…” The migraine intensified, he was starting to hear a high pitched ringing in his ears.

She squeezed her eyes shut, as if willing her tears away. For some reason, his heart clenched at the thought of causing her pain, “Your name,” she said softly, “is Leo Valdez. You’re a demigod, son of Hephaestus. You’re…a hero, Leo.”

He supposed a normal person would have been shocked at being told they were half god, but something felt _right_ about her words…like he’d heard them before. “And who are you? Do you know how I got here or why I’m here?” That migraine was really getting bad, maybe she had some Excedrin…?

“My name is Calypso,” she said slowly, “as to why you’re here…you made me a promise a long time ago. You promised you’d come back for me,” a lone tear streaked down her face, “you said you’d take me away.”

At her words, Leo felt a strange chill run down his spine, _‘An oath to keep with a final breath.’_ And then the migraine intensified and he blacked out.

* * *

 

The second time Leo woke up, it was to a constellation of brilliant crystals hanging above his head. He lay there, trying to remember what exactly had happened to him. Then, he groaned. How completely embarrassing! There he was, with that gorgeous girl, hugging him and kissing him and telling him he was a _hero_ , and then he goes and _faints_.

He could picture it now, him fainting like a damsel in distress and the girl saying something like, “Oh, wow, yeah this guy’s definitely not a hero. I was obviously confused, see ya!” And them some tall, handsome dude with golden hair and biceps the size of tree trunks would swoop in and be all “Hey babe, I’m back—let’s go!” and then he’d pick her up like she weighed nothing and carry her out to the sunset as she called out “See ya, loser!” He probably had some scary looking tattoos too. Great. _Fan-freaking-tastic._

“Leo? Are you awake?” it was Calypso’s voice, soft, worried.

Leo snapped his head to the right, but the movement caused a wave of pain to course through his body, “You—arghhh!” he groaned again, that really _hurt_.

“You shouldn’t move too much, I’m not sure if it was the fall or some previous injuries, but you were pretty beaten up,” she said, coming up to his bed and rearranging the blanket over him, once again bringing that cinnamon scent with her, “you should probably take it easy for a while.”

Her voice was soft, her touch gentle, affectionate. _‘She really does care for me…she must have been really important to me. She had to be…’_

He cleared his throat, and tried to speak softly, “How long was I out?”

“Only a few hours, I brought you here after I realized you wouldn’t wake for some time.”

“Where are we?” he looked around, moving slowly this time to not hurt himself.

She smiled softly, “This is my home, I suppose. We’re in the cave I live in.”

“It’s beautiful,” he said, looking back to the bright crystals above him, “thank you for bringing me here, and for taking care of me.”

“Of course, hero,” her smile looked slightly forced now, “it’s the least I could do for you.” She paused and took a breath, “Do you…still not remember?”

Again, he felt terribly guilty, “Look Calypso…I’m sorry. I really wish I could. I don’t remember _anything_. I’m so sorry.”

She swallowed, “It’s not your fault, Leo. We’ll figure out a way to get your memory back; for now, just concentrate on feeling better. Go back to sleep, your body still needs rest.” With that, she stood up and walked out of the cave.

Now, Leo felt really terrible. He wondered what their story was, what kind of guy was he that he could somehow get a girl like Calypso to care for him? He wished more than anything that he could be that guy now, that he could be the kind of guy who’d make her smile, and laugh. But there was nothing.

He sighed deeply, frustrated, and was back asleep before he even realized it.

* * *

 

The next time he woke up, he was alone in the cave and sunshine was pouring in from the cave entrance. He tried moving and found that whatever pain was ailing him before was all but gone. As he sat up, his muscles were a little sore, but nothing he couldn’t deal with.

He stood slowly and looked about the cave. Aside from the bed, there was a loom in one corner of the room, a harp in another, and one wall was lined with shelves filled with all kinds of jars and flasks. As he turned, he caught sight of a mirror and approached it, realizing that he had no idea what he looked like.

Staring back at him was a young man; Leo would guess that he was about 17 or 18. He had curly dark brown hair (that looked so messy he had to run his hands through it several times to get it to look somewhat presentable) and thick brows. His face was somewhat angular, his ears somewhat pointed, and his eyes a deep chocolate brown. He definitely wasn’t buff, but he wasn’t entirely disappointed with the state of his muscles, he had a lean cut, like an acrobat.

He noticed a scar coming out of his collar—a battle scar, perhaps? But as he yanked his collar down to look at it, he noticed another. He furrowed his brow, confused, and raised his shirt up to look at his chest closer. There was a multitude of scars criss-crossing over his chest, some of them looked pretty shallow, some deep, some looked pretty painful. Where the hell did he get these?

Sighing and annoyed once more at his lack of memory, he yanked his shirt down and resolved to find Calypso. It was a beautiful day outside, the sun was still rising, it was probably early morning. As he exited the cave, his eyes were immediately drawn to a beautiful garden on his right, and in the midst of it he saw Calypso.

She was wearing a normal pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, her hair up in a messy ponytail, and there was mud all over her. With the look of determination on her face as she labored in her task, Leo thought she had never looked more gorgeous, if that was even possible. She was so focused on her task that she failed to notice Leo until he was standing right in front of her.

She squinted up at him and shielded her eyes from the sun as she met his gaze, “Good morning Leo,” she said amicably, “how are you feeling?”

“Hey,” he said, happy that for once she didn’t look completely heartbroken, “I’m feeling a lot better, thanks for taking care of me.”

She stood up and wiped her muddied hands off on her jeans, “You must be starving, let’s eat.”

He followed her to a table sitting just outside her garden, already laden with different fruits and glasses of orange juice. She went to wash her hands on a basin nearby, and he stood there awkwardly as he waited for her to finish. Then, because it was never too early for an awkward encounter with Leo Valdez, she turned and bumped into him.

Immediately his hands went about her waist to steady her, and she looked up at him with wide eyes, “Sorry…” her voice sounded breathy, it was almost a whisper.

There was a spot of mud just above her jawline, and Leo stared at it, mesmerized. Without even thinking about it, he reached up to her face and wiped it off—and all of a sudden her eyes seemed to darken, “You had some…mud,” he said, slowly.

She stared at him for another moment, then cleared her throat and stepped back, “Right, thanks.” She grabbed a seat, “Let’s eat?”

He couldn’t help but feel disappointed and stupid, _‘Get ahold of yourself, Valdez!’_ He shook his head and sat down at the table, digging into the delicious meal Calypso had prepared.

“So,” Calypso said after a short pause, “what’s your plan now, hero?”

“Plan?” he looked at her, confused, how the hell was he supposed to know? “I guess I’ll try to figure out a way to get us out of here…that is what I promised you, isn’t it?”

She nodded, seeming satisfied with his answer, “Yes, it is. Do you know how you’re going to go about it?”

“Ummm…” he trailed off. She was looking at him expectantly, almost as if she was testing him, “I suppose I’ll take a look at that dragon again,” he said slowly, “maybe I can figure out a way to re-build it or something.”

This time she smiled at him, as if this was exactly what she’d wanted him to say, “Good, that sounds more like the Leo I remember. What will you need to get started?”

Again, Leo faltered, how the hell was he supposed to know what he needed? “I should probably take a look at it first, see what state it’s in. I don’t even know if I _can_ re-build it.”

Calypso stood up, “The dragon’s name is Festus. You built it yourself, and I’m confident that you can re-build him once more.” She walked to the cave and returned holding a toolbelt, “This belongs to you, you used it to get out of this island last time. You were somehow able to retrieve tools from it.”

The second Calypso had pulled out that toolbelt, Leo knew it belonged to him. He swiftly picked it out of her hands and strapped it around his waist, almost sighing with relief at how _right_ it felt to have that with him once more, “Thanks, I think this was very important to me once.”

She smiled once more, “Yes,” her eyes danced, “I think it was.”

* * *

 

When Leo approached his crash site and witnessed wreckage that Festus had left behind, he almost gave up. There were pieces of metal scattered about _everywhere_ , and thanks to his awesome memory, he had no idea where to even begin.

He sighed, disappointed in himself, and turned to Calypso, “I don’t even know where to start,” he said, “I don’t remember how I built this…I don’t know if it’s possible.”

For once, Calypso looked angry, “What are you talking about? You’re Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus!” She gestured at him, “You’re the one hero that actually tried to figure out a way out of this island. You’re the one that worked for weeks trying to do the impossible. I don’t care if your memory is gone, you’re still Leo and you _will_ find a way out of here! You _promised!_ ”

Leo took a step back, surprised at her anger, “Well what the hell am I supposed to do?” he asked, annoyed that she’d made him feel guilty once more, “Like I said, Sunshine, _I DON’T REMEMBER!”_

Calypso whirled her head around to him, and looked at him in shock. “What?” he huffed, ‘ _why the hell is she acting so strange?’_ Then, solidifying Leo’s belief that perhaps she was truly crazy, she started laughing. “What?!”

“What-“ she laughed at him, “What did you just call me?”

“Sunshine?” She laughed softly and stepped forward to hug him, _‘Figures, the pretty ones are always crazy…’_ Once more, Leo neglected to put his arms around her in his confusion.

She stepped back, “You used to call me that,” she said gently, “at first you called me that when you were annoyed with me, but then you called me that all the time…”

“Oh.” Well, perhaps she wasn’t _that_ crazy, “I didn’t remember that…at least I don’t think I did…”

She smiled, “It doesn’t matter. Your memories must be buried in there somewhere, and I will do anything I can to help you remember.”

She looked so determined that Leo felt a spark of hope rise in his chest, maybe those memories were still there, leaking out slowly. Maybe she’d cure him. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right,” he looked over the wreckage once more, “maybe there is a way to fix this. I’m sure I can figure it out.”

“That’s more like it,” she nodded, “Take the rest of the day, think about it. Then, tomorrow, we start working.”

There was a gleam in her eyes, like she couldn’t wait to get started.

“Sounds like a plan.”


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later, Leo realized that when Calypso put her mind to something, she really committed. When Leo had returned to her cave later that night and informed her that he had some ideas on how to get started she had insisted that he eat plenty of food for dinner and get as much sleep as possible, "We'll be working every day until we can get this done," she'd said.

What Leo hadn't realized was that when Calypso said they'd be working every day, she meant to say that they'd be waking up at the crack of dawn and spend all day working under the sun. Luckily, once Leo started picking up pieces of the machinery, his mechanic instincts kicked in and he knew exactly what he'd have to do. Calypso worked easily with him, lending aid with anything he needed and working quickly to get it all done.

Although there were often times when she needed his help or explanations, Calypso proved herself to be a pretty efficient helper, and Leo had a feeling that they'd done this before. However, Leo soon realized that even with his and Calypso's combined speed, this project was going to take a while, "I can't remember how long it took me to make this originally," he'd told her, "but I have a feeling that this will take at least a few months. It would be easier to work with new materials, but all the ones we have were melted into weird shapes by the fire or destroyed into tiny little pieces…"

Calypso sighed, disappointed, "I suppose there's not much else we can do about it. Hand me those wires," and then she resumed work with renewed vigor.

She had insisted they work until sunset, when it was too dark to really see what they were doing. Leo ate his dinner with gusto, and passed out promptly, only to be woken up at sunrise once more.

For the most part, they worked together in a comfortable silence, but half-way through the second day Leo's ADHD kicked in and he decided to distract himself by asking Calypso random questions.

"So…" he started, "what's your favorite color?"

She looked up at him, an amused look on her face, "You know, no one's ever asked me that." She turned her head out to the ocean, "But I suppose I'd have to say blue. What about yours?"

"Red." He answered quickly, thinking back to the dress she'd worn on his first day here.

She smiled, as if knowing exactly what he meant by that, "Red, the color of blood and fire…also of courage and strength."

"And love," he added, thoughtlessly. 'Dammit, great going, Valdez. Now she's gonna think you're in love with her…But maybe I was once in love with her…?'

She turned to him and cocked her head to the side, "Yes, and love."

"What about blue?" he asked, looking to change the subject quickly, "What does blue stand for?"

Turning back to what she was working on, she answered, "Blue is the color of the sky and the sea….serenity, wisdom and…" She trailed off, looking steadily at her hands.

'And sadness,' the thought. This time, at least, he held himself back from speaking the words out loud. And yet, as he looked at Calypso, he realized that the description suited her: she was wise and serene, and also sad. He wasn't quite sure that he was courageous and strong, but he'd like to think he was….or perhaps he just wanted Calypso to think so.

It pained him to think of Calypso as sad, but he realized that she'd probably been alone for a really long time…waiting for him.

"So," he tried again, "what's the first thing you want to do when we get off this island?"

"I haven't been off this island for over three thousand years," she said, looking up at him, "frankly, I'm not sure I'd recognize the world anymore... But I suppose I'd like to visit Malta first, my birthplace."

"Okay," he nodded, "then Malta will be our first stop."

She looked at him from the side of her eye, "What about you, Leo? Where would you want to go?"

"To be honest, I'm not too sure. I can't remember where I came from."

"You told me once," she said, "that you were from a place called Texas. And your friends, they live in a place called Camp Half-Blood, in New York."

He looked to her, surprised that this hadn't come up before, "Texas and Camp Half-Blood…it sounds right, I think. I feel like I should know what those places are…do you think I'll get my memory back if I go there?"

"I'm not sure," she said softly, "but maybe you'll remember some things. Your friends," she spoke carefully now, "they should all be there at Camp Half-Blood. You told me about them the first time you were here. I think you were very close, but…"

This time he was looking at her intently, leaning forward, "But what? What happened?"

She sighed, "Well I don't know, Leo. You were on a quest with them, trying to defeat Gaea, the Earth Mother, one of the strongest beings in all of existence. She's a worthy opponent, and I just don't know if you all survived, or even how you could all possibly survive, especially knowing that you…" She shut her eyes tightly, as if remembering something painful, "Nevermind. You told me they were all incredibly strong demigods, I'm sure they're all waiting for you back home."

Part of him wanted to push her and find out exactly what she'd been about to say, but he held back, knowing that she'd tell him when the time was right. "You're right, I'm sure they are," he said, "I can feel it in my bones!"

She laughed, and it sounded like angels, "Well if you can feel it in your bones, then…"

He grinned, "Exactly!"

They both resumed working quietly then, but a thought bugged Leo more and more, "I know you probably don't know much, but…could you tell me about them?"

"Tell you about your friends?"

"Yeah," he was frustrated once more that he couldn't remember anything, "anything you know about them would be nice. Maybe it'll jog something?"

She nodded, "Of course Leo. You're right, I don't know much as I never met them, but I do remember some of the things you told me about them…"

And so Calypso began to tell him of his friends Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Nico, Percy, and Annabeth. As she told him more and more about his friends a strange longing started building up in his chest; they sounded amazing, like they'd meant the world to him, 'I have to get us out of here.'

That was the night the nightmares started.

* * *

* * *

 

When Leo woke up the next day he felt both exhausted and confused. He tried to remember exact details of the dream he had, but all he could remember was some kind of explosion and lots of fire. And pain, he could remember being in a lot of pain. Even now, as he thought back to the nightmare he could remember the feeling creeping up his arms, the flames crawling up his body, feeling so much heat—

"Leo, what are you doing?!"

He started, and looked up to find that Calypso had dropped her water pitcher in shock, "What..?"

"Are you trying to light up my entire home on fire?!"

He looked down at himself and muttered a sound of surprise. He'd been so caught up on his thoughts of fire that he'd accidentally started one all on his own. Quickly, he stopped the flames emanating from his body, but unfortunately Calypso's curtains didn't escape their reach.

"Ehh," he scratched the back of his neck, "I'm sorry. I can pay for that! I think? Do you even care about money?"

Calypso huffed, "I'll have to make some new ones tonight. What were you thinking lighting yourself on fire indoors?"

"I'm sorry, I was just lost in thought," he said, feeling a little sheepish, "It won't happen again, Sunshine, I'm really really sorry." He tried giving her some puppy dog eyes to sweeten the deal.

Her face softened, and Leo had to hold himself back from first pumping at his success, "It's alright, I guess. Just make sure not to do it again, I don't want anything else distracting us from our task."

He saluted like an army soldier, "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

She laughed softly and rolled her eyes, "You modern men and your weird mannerisms."

He grinned, now completely certain that she wasn't upset, "Ah, well, you know us modern men, Sunshine. We're just irresistible!"

"I'm sure," she said sarcastically, "and also incredibly lazy. Now stop wasting time and let's get to work!"

Leo resumed working on Festus that day with renewed vigor, resolving to put the nightmare out of his mind. Whenever he found himself dwelling on it, he'd distract himself by starting another round of questions with Calypso.

"So," he started, "what's your favorite food?"

She thought for a moment, "Grapes. Green grapes to be more specific."

"Grapes?" he asked, astounded, "Grapes? Out of all the possible foods in the world and your favorite is grapes?"

"I'm not sure what's got you so surprised, grapes are sweet and refreshing. What's wrong with grapes?" She looked somewhat miffed at his reaction.

"Well I don't know," he said, "what about chocolate? Or Doritos? Or ice cream? Ooohh or even What-a-Burger?"

She tilted her head, looking completely confused, "What's a 'Doritos'?"

"Oh, no, no, no," he facepalmed and shook his head, "you poor deprived creature. I mean I get the whole 'stay on this island alone for millennia' curse deal, but not letting you have chocolate? That's just cruel!"

"Can you stop talking gibberish and explain what you're talking about, Valdez?"

'Okay,' he thought, 'she only calls me Valdez when she's mad. So I'm guessing I pissed her off. Oooh boy, great going Valdez. Okay, now to disassemble the landmines you oh so smartly set up.'

"Sorry Sushine," he tried, "I'm just surprised. I guess it makes sense that you wouldn't be able to try more modern foods. And now that I think about it I'm pretty sure chocolate was discovered in the Americas at some point in history, so it wouldn't have been found in Ancient Greece…"

She sighed, "I can only eat what I can grow by my own hand on this island, Leo."

"Yeah well, when we get off this island, we can go on a food tour. You have to try chocolate, and ice cream, and junk food, and—have you ever had pizza?"

"Pizza?" she laughed, "No, I'm afraid I haven't. Do you think I would like this 'pizza'?"

"Like it?!" he said, slightly offended at the mere thought of someone not even liking pizza, "You'll love it! I'm pretty sure if you don't love pizza you're some kind of crazy person! I think that's grounds to have a person committed."

"Committed to what?"

He laughed; it was kind of cute how modern vernacular was completely lost on her, "Committed to a crazy house. Like, locked up with all the crazy people."

Her eyes widened, "They just lock mentally ill people in a house? But that's so inhumane!"

He laughed once more, "Okay, I should probably explain that one too…."

* * *

 

Every night thereafter, Leo had nightmares. Some were so intense that he'd wake up in the middle of the night drenched in a cold sweat. Most of the time the memories of them would slip out of his grasp quickly, but he tried to retain as much of it as possible, he was sure that these memories were linked to his past somehow.

He considered telling Calypso about his dreams but quickly decided against it, he didn't want to get her hopes up. So far, all that he could remember was pain, and he was sure that whatever those memories were, they were completely unrelated to Calypso. Calypso was happiness, he decided, he wouldn't find her amongst those memories.

He decided to continue working as if nothing were amiss. On the fifth day of work, Calypso complained to him about the command board he was working on, "You've been taking days on that little piece," she said, "shouldn't you be working on the rest of the machine?"

Leo had given her a half smile, "This little piece is the command board, and this is how we'll be able to control Festus. It takes forever because everything's so intricate." he held it up to her, "You can't rush perfection."

She'd gotten that look on her face again, the one that looked hopeful and hurt at the same time. Leo had an inkling that perhaps he'd said something to the same effect before...

They continued on this pattern for a few more days, but halfway through the second week, Leo was exhausted and irritated. His muscles were sore and cramping from the hard labor and his brain felt fried. He'd had repeated nightmares of being on fire and in pain, he'd also had some where some older woman forced him to play with snakes (what the hell kind of babysitter was that?), and he'd had others where someone was hitting him repeatedly.

The nightmares seemed to gather more and more speed, as if determined to expose him to every negative aspect of his life. He was almost convinced that nothing positive ever happened to him. (Aside from Calypso, of course.) All that he could gather of his past life so far was pain, but from what Calypso had told him he was sure there was some good experiences, somewhere. He just wished he could remember those. Why couldn't he have dreams where he was with his friends, the ones Calypso told him about?

He had experienced a particularly vivid nightmare the night before, and he found himself frequently revisiting it throughout the day. The nightmare was a memory from when he was a child, of that there was no doubt. He was in an auto repair shop with his mother, and then somehow there was a fire. The details were a little foggy, but he could remember being separated from her and knowing that he couldn't save her. All that he could remember was the pain of losing her, and this mind-numbing guilt that sat heavy on his chest.

He groaned and dropped the hammer he was holding.

"What's wrong?" quick as ever, Calypso had looked up from her work and was on him like a hawk.

He waved her off, "Nothing, I'm just tired."

She peered closer at him, "You do look exhausted. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he groaned, irritated, he had a short fuse today and Calypso's worrying wasn't making it any better, "I said I was fine didn't I?"

She stood and put her hands on her hips, "Just because you say you're fine doesn't necessarily mean you're fine. We can't get off this island if you work yourself sick. Now tell me, are you really okay?"

"Seriously?!" he snapped at her, "Is that all you care about? Getting off this stupid island? Using me? Where the hell are you even gonna go, Calypso? You don't even know anyone out there! And what about me, huh? You just decided that I was going to get you off this island like that" he snapped his fingers in her face, "like it's so easy? How can I even trust that everything you say is the truth, huh? I don't remember anything! Why would I want to go back to a world I don't even remember? And like you said, all my friends might be dead! Friends that—for the record—I don't even remember! If they were so fantastic, then why haven't they come looking for me yet, huh? Where the hell are they?" He stopped, shaking and gasping for breath.

"How dare you, Leo Valdez," Calypso's voice was a deadly whisper, "after everything, everything I've been through. After I waited centuries for you—how dare you accuse me of lying? Of using you? Is that really all you think of me?" she was full on yelling at this point.

"Well I don't know," he replied, her anger merely feeding the flames of his, "I wouldn't know any better, now would I? You're a sorceress aren't you? Why can't you just use some spell to bring my memories back? Have you even tried?"

"Of course I tried, Leo, that was the first thing I did! Do you have any idea what kind of torture this has been for me? After waiting all this time, after believing that I was finally getting out of here, after believing that someone actually cared enough to come back for me, the gods send back—"

"Send back what?" he interrupted, "Some damaged, useless runt?"

"They send back the man I love, without his memories. That's what they send back," tears—golden and shining like gods' blood streamed down her face, her voice calmed. "Leo, I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in all the thousands of years I've lived. And when I saw you standing there on the shore, returned after so long I thought that finally, finally I could be happy and be with the man I loved, but then-" she swallowed, the tears still flowing freely, "but then you turned to me with that blank look on your face, and I just—"

Whatever anger was left in him evaporated, "Calypso, I—"

"No," she stepped closer to him, "you should know. Leo, I don't know what to do. I'm just as lost as you are. I love you with every fiber of my being, and it hurts every day that you look at me, knowing that you don't remember me, and that you don't feel the same way. I don't know how to act around you, I don't know what I should tell you, I don't know how to fix you. I just wish, so, so badly that you could just remember…I just wish you could remember what you felt for me."

She looked up at him with her big eyes, still shining with tears, and a strange wave washed through him. He wasn't quite sure what drove him to it; all rational thought had left him at this point.

So he kissed her.

The kiss started out slow, almost loving, and Leo took his time enjoying the feel of her, pushed up against him. But then, quickly, it changed. All of a sudden that fire that had coursed through him came back, and the kiss got heated, more aggressive; almost messy. Calypso responded to him in kind, both of them pouring their anger and their frustration into that kiss.

He dug his hands through her hair wildly, and the gentle hold he'd had around her waist turned into a tight grip. Likewise, she ran her hand through his hair, tugging at it, her other hand near his hip, his shirt gripped tightly in it. He was starting to get light-headed. He broke contact with her lips and trailed a line of kisses down her jawbone, ending at her neck and continued kissing her there, some primal instinct driving his actions. At this point, a small gasp left her lips, and Leo felt so warm he could have sworn he had lit himself on fire again. He went back to kissing her lips when—

_"Don't push your luck, Leo Valdez," she said. "I still hate you."_

_"Okay."_

_"And you are not coming back here," she insisted. "So don't give me any empty promises."_

_"How about a full promise?" he said. "Because I'm definitely—"_

_She grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss, which effectively shut him up. If Leo had had gears and wires in his brain, they would've short-circuited. Calypso pushed him away._

_"That didn't happen."_

_"Okay." His voice sounded an octave higher than usual._

_"Get out of here."_

_"Okay."_

_She turned, wiping her eyes furiously, and stormed up the beach, the breeze tousling her hair._

He pushed her back, panting. She looked up at him, surprised, wide-eyed, beautiful.

"I remember you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: well this ended way differently than I'd originally intended. Buuuuut I have to say I'm kind of happy with it :) 
> 
> The next chapter will be from Calypso's point of view, I tried to throw in some of it in the ending here, but more on that next time!
> 
> Don't forget to leave me your thoughts and tell me what you think! And as always, thanks for reading!
> 
> P.S. for those poor souls that don't know what What-a-Burger is, it's a fast food chain of deliciousness from Texas :)


	6. Chapter 6

"I remember you."

"You…you what?!" she stared at him, shocked, still reeling from that kiss.

"Well, I mean not really-" he looked away, suddenly shy, "I mean, well, I don't remember everything exactly but I—"

"Leo," she cut him off, suddenly desperate to know more—she tried to quell the hope swelling in her chest. "What exactly did you remember?"

He looked at her again, his hands fidgeting with some wires inside his toolbelt absentmindedly, "I remember you telling me you hated me, but it didn't sound like you meant it. And then you told me I wouldn't be coming back but I promised you that I would and then…"

She breathed out, "And then I kissed you."

His cheeks reddened, "Yes, and then you kissed me and told me to leave. And when you turned away, you were…you were crying."

"Is that all you remember?" she tried to keep her voice even, speaking past the lump in her throat. He'd seen her cry too many times.

"I think so," he nodded slowly, "I remember being confused, like I couldn't really understand what was happening. And when you kissed me I felt like…" he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I don't know, it's already slipping away."

She smiled tightly at him, "Well, it's not everything, but it's a start."

He took a step towards her, "Calypso, I'm sorry. I wish—"

"No, Leo," she held up a hand, suddenly scared that he would embrace her again. She wasn't sure she could handle that at the moment, "none of this is your fault. I shouldn't expect for your memory to come back all at once. I just—it's just…"

She trailed off, confused. She wasn't quite sure what exactly she'd been hoping for. Perhaps she just wished that he would remember his feelings for her. A simple moment in time, no matter how significant it was, meant nothing in the greater scope of things. The fact that she'd kissed him and he'd promised to come back wouldn't mean anything to him. It wouldn't make him remember he loved her.

He was still nervously fiddling with something in his hands and took a breath as if to say something.

"Like I said," she interrupted before he could speak, "it's okay. I'm okay." She cast her gaze out to the sea, and realized she couldn't be there with Leo a moment longer. "Look I still need to weave those curtains that you burnt down the other day. I'm just going to go ahead and work on those for the rest of the day, don't worry about me."

The small machine in his hands made a strange noise and lit on fire, he dropped it, "Okay."

She chuckled softly at the irony, "Oay," the last words he'd ever said to her (he was such an eloquent hero, wasn't he?)

She turned quickly and marched away without looking back at him. Walking steadily, she made it to her cave way too soon, she had yet to work through her feelings and wasn't quite sure what to make of everything. Figuring she'd at least stay true to her words, she sat and her loom and began to weave.

Weaving was something she had enjoyed doing for millennia; the work was repetitive and soothing, but she soon found that though her hands were busy, her thoughts were left to wonder.

It had been incredibly difficult for her, those first few days that Leo was back. When he first got there and revealed his lack of memory she had hoped that it was a fluke, that perhaps he was exhausted and sick and maybe that's why he couldn't remember her. But when he opened his eyes once more and still couldn't remember her she realized that the condition was more serious than what she had originally hoped. There were no words to describe what it felt like to have Leo look at her like he had that day: confused, lost, surprised. She had imagined their reunion so many times and in so many different ways, but never like this.

She didn't miss the flash of guilt and frustration that clouded his eyes any time she'd question his memory and had resolved to stop causing him reason to worry. Valiantly, she had tried to cast her pain to the side and to simply help him—she figured the only way to heal him was to get him back to himself and to get him back to his home in Camp Half-Blood. She was afraid that if she waited around for his memory to return nothing would happen, and anyways Leo wasn't the type of hero who would have waited around for something to save him, he was a doer. The first time he'd come to her island he did nothing but work on his way out, so she figured that doing the same thing his second time around would help.

But then of course there were those moments where he'd say or do something that was just so familiar. He'd act exactly like he would have before, and in those brief moments she would forget his memory loss. She could almost convince herself that her Leo was back at times, like when he said one of his stupid jokes, or when he bragged about his machines—but then the moment would shatter quickly, her hopes would plummet and her heart would hurt just a little more.

She looked down, startled to realize that her work was already done. She sighed and hung the curtains up on the rod that Leo had fixed so long ago. Her task had been finished much too quickly, so she cast her eyes about in search for something else to keep her busy. She proceeded to clean up the entirety of her cave, spending extra time in the attached room that she had given to Leo.

Leo, she had come to learn, was a bit of a slob. Sighing once more, she proceeded to organize his scattered drawings and diagrams as best she could. After making his bed and sweeping up, she cast a final glance around the room, satisfied with her work. Then, on top of the table, she saw a strange orb and inside it sat the crystal she had given him so long ago. She approached it and picked it up gently.

"So this is what sent you back to me," she spoke softly, looking at the strange machine intently…

"I'm not gonna leave you here! After you helped me and everything? Of course I'm coming back. Once I rebuild Festus, he'll be able to handle an improved guidance system. There's this astrolabe that I, uh…that I found in Bologna. Anyway, I think with that crystal you gave me—"

"You can't come back," Calypso insisted.

Leo's face dropped, "Because I'm not welcome?"

Startled by the strength of the unbidden memory, she set the orb down on his table quickly. 'How could he ever think he wasn't welcome?'

She left the room swiftly. Then, she went around to her garden and resolved to work on it some, as she had been neglecting it of late. Work went by smoothly for quite a while and she was almost able to forget about her worries when her pruners suddenly fell apart.

"And my gardening tools?"

"Look, I just sharpened the shears. Cutting vines with a dull blade is dangerous. And the pruners needed to be oiled at the hinge, and—"

Of course, she'd forgotten to oil them.

Frustrated, she stabbed the two pieces on the ground and allowed a small growl to escape her. Realizing that she couldn't escape thinking of him, she let her mind wander and found her thoughts going back to that heated kiss they had shared.

When Leo had snapped at her out of nowhere, she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He was usually so calm with her, joking and making light banter, but then she remembered his attitude when he had first landed here, how that biting sarcasm that had driven her crazy. She couldn't quite figure out what had put him on edge, but if she was completely honest with herself, Leo's anger had frightened her. She had convinced herself that although Leo couldn't remember his feelings for her, he would still come to love her again, but she was suddenly presented with the idea that this was a new Leo…he had no obligation to love her once more.

So she came clean to him, needing him to understand, needing him to know. And then he kissed her. At first, the kiss was sweet, like that of a lover. But then it changed into something heated and wild—like Leo's own flames. She should have probably stopped him, but she had let herself be swept up in her emotions. Never before had she connected with Leo in this way, their bodies and their emotions moving in sync—at the moment, it didn't matter that he didn't love her, it didn't matter that he had no memory of her. All that she knew at that moment was Leo and his heated body. And for that small amount of time, it had been enough.

But then, of course, reality came crashing down. Her hopes were shattered again. She really didn't know how long she could keep going like this, she had always been guided by her feelings, and she had always felt too strongly. To keep having her heart crushed over and over again, with no reason to hope that it would all come out okay…she was sure she would be driven mad soon.

All of a sudden, it was all too much. Shaking, she dropped to her knees and covered her face as she felt the tears come once more.

And for the first time in her life, Calypso prayed.

"Please," she sobbed, her voice tight, "please, I've never asked for anything. After everything you have all done to me, I have been patient, and I have been kind. If not for me, then please… please help him…please...he's a good person, he's a hero, he helped defeat Gaea…He doesn't deserve this…"

She trailed off, suddenly exhausted, and breathed deeply.

"You're right," a deep voice came from behind her, and she whirled around to find the speaker, "he was very brave."

"Lord Hephaestus," she rose, wiping away the last of her tears, "you came."

He smiled kindly at her, "Always lovely to see you, Calypso. And may I just say your strawberries look especially delicious this year." He looked about her garden with interest.

"Thank you."

"And your grapes, I'm sure even Dionysus would be jealous of those!"

"I'm sure."

"And those roses—"

"I hope you're not here to talk pleasantries," there was some steel in her voice, how could he talk strawberries and roses at a time like this?

He grimaced, and rubbed the back of his neck in a move that resembled Leo way too much, "Ah yes, of course. Sorry, I didn't mean-"

She took a deep breath, she'd been around Leo so long that she'd almost forgotten how regular children of Hephaestus acted. Where Leo was talkative and friendly, Hephaestus was always awkward and uncomfortable around people; he always acted like he'd rather be working on one of his machines. "It's fine. Please, tell me what you came here to say."

He cleared his throat, "Um yes, that, Leo." He produced a set of wires from thin air and proceeded to fiddle with it as he talked, the motion so familiar to Calypso that her heart clenched, "Yes well that's a really long story. I figured you should get some answers."

"I would like that very much," she said, as kindly as she could.

"Well you see, in the final battle against Gaea—well that is, the prophesy said 'To storm or fire, the world must fall,' fire, of course, being Leo…"

She nodded, willing herself to be patient, "okay…"

"So, well, in order to defeat Gaea, Leo had to sacrifice himself. He needed to die." The machine he had been working on suddenly sprang to life and flew away, he quickly started working on something else, "But him and his friends, they had Asclepius make the Physician's Cure beforehand."

Her eyes widened, "The Physician's Cure? But that's…"

"Outlawed by Zeus after it upset everyone, yes," he locked eyes with her now, "that's what has caused so many issues."

"So what happened?"

He dropped the machine in his hands and it zoomed away, "Well, through his sacrifice, Leo was able to defeat Gaea and put her back to sleep. There was a lot of chaos afterwards, you have to understand—all the gods' Greek and Roman sides were fighting with themselves, and it took us some time to get back to ourselves. By the time I realized what had happened, Leo's dragon had already administered the Cure and it was caught in the Mist surrounding Ogygia.

"As you know, the use of the Cure had been banned but, well…he's my son. And if it weren't for him, then Olympus would have surely fallen. So I went to Zeus and asked that he make an exception and allow Leo to live on. Of course at the end of the day, it was all up to Hades, but you know how upset he gets when he has to let mortals out of the Underworld…"

"Yes, I am familiar with his opinion on that," she said, thinking back to all the tales she'd heard, "so then what happened?"

"Well," he began fidgeting again, "I couldn't just walk my way on down to the Underworld, you know, so I had to wait for Hades to come pay a visit to Olympus. I waited until the first day of winter, when he came to take Persephone down to the Underworld. I figured he would be in a good mood then."

She nodded, "Of course, it seems reasonable."

"Right. So I approached him and asked him about Leo, and he said his soul was in the Underworld, but that his judges couldn't decide on where to put it because his body was still alive. He said it was causing a lot of fights and issues. And then Persephone came up to him and he told her how he missed her—"

"Can we stick to the relevant parts of the story, please?" She interrupted him, realizing that this was probably the longest he'd talked in a long time.

He shook his head, "So anyways, he said he would be willing to make an exception for Leo and to let his soul out of the Underworld, since, you know, we all owe him so much. But because no soul should escape from the Underworld unscathed he required an extra condition…"

She stilled, "And what was it?"

"He had to be doused in the River Lethe."

"He what?!"

"I said doused, not submerged!" he said quickly, "Look it was the only way to get Leo out, okay? So Hades splashed him with the water and let his soul go… And anyways I found a way to get him to recover his memories."

She waited, "….well what is it?"

"Oh right, sorry. Once you get out, take him to Camp Half-Blood, and bring him to the Hypnos cabin. He'll have to be put in a deep sleep and covered in the Golden Fleece. The experience might be a bit painful for him, but…he should wake up the next day with his memories returned."

She almost shouted in frustration, "The Golden Fleece? Hasn't that been lost for centuries? How am I supposed to find it?!"

He waved his hands at her, trying to still her anger, "No, no, the Fleece, it's been found. Percy Jackson found it. Well not him, Ares's girl, Clarisse. Anyways, it's at Camp Half-Blood."

She took a breath, "Okay then. So once we get out of here we'll just go to Camp Half-Blood, wrap him in the Golden Fleece, put him to sleep, and then he'll be back to normal!"

She laughed softly, relieved. After all the trials she and Leo had both been through, she was finally starting to see the light. They could get out of this, they could be happy together.

But then she noticed Hephaestus wasn't smiling, "What is it?" her voice sounded sharper than she'd intended.

He grimaced once more, "There's…something else."

"What? What else could there possibly be?"

He groaned, and rolled his eyes skyward, "Well, you see, the Physician's Cure…it isn't really as effective as legend would have it be…"

She could almost hit him, 'Gods does he really not realize what a terrible conversationalist he is?!' "Lord Hephaestus, please. You've toyed with my emotions long enough. Just tell me the truth."

"I'm sorry Calypso," he sighed, "if it was a machine I would fix it, no problem. But mortals and souls and feelings…After all this time I still can't figure them out...

"The Physician's Cure needs to be administered very soon after death in order to be effective, but by the time that Leo's dragon administered the Cure, they were already caught up in the Mist around Ogygia. As you well know, time flows differently here…"

"So it was too late," she whispered.

"Yes," he looked down, putting away the small apparatus in his hand, "by the time the dragon administered the Cure his soul was already in the Underworld, his body had been dead for a while in the mortal world. If Leo leaves Ogygia he will die within the week."

She shut her eyes tightly, "Please. Please tell me there's another way."

He hesitated, "There might be…"

She rushed forwards and seized his scarred, callused hands in hers, "What? What is it? Tell me!"

"Well I have no power over these types of occurrences, and I had already meddled enough in Leo's fate as it is, so…I went to my beloved wife for help."

'Oh, no…' if there was one goddess that Calypso was sure hated her as much as Calypso hated her back, it was Aphrodite. After all, it was the Love Goddess's fault that Calypso always fell for those heroes. It was all her fault that they always loved someone else. Were it not for Aphrodite, Calypso was sure she would have lived a long and happy eternity by herself in Ogygia.

"What did she do?"

"Well she was very moved by you and Leo's story; you know how she loves those tragic tales of love. But anyways, she did agree to return his body to its regular health and grant him a normal, mortal lifespan…but there is a cost."

"Of course, there's always a cost."

He smiled apologetically, "To grant this gift, it would require a great act of love. Leo sacrificed his life in the hopes that he could conquer death and find his way back to you…"

"And is that not a sufficient act of love? What else could Aphrodite require?"

"Um. Yes, well, it would have to be an act of love from each party. You would have to sacrifice something of equal value in the name of Aphrodite."

She froze, 'He can't mean…'

He took a breath and looked at her steadily, "You would have to give up your immortality."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: dun dun dunnnnnnn! I actually thought this would be a short chapter, but I guess Leo's story was longer than I'd anticipated! I meant to hold off on publishing this for a few more days, but I'm impatient so I just went ahead.
> 
> The next chapter will be from Calypso's point of view and there will be A LOT OF FLUFF :D so be ready for that :) I'm really excited about it, I need these poor kids to be happy for a minute ;)
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and be sure to leave me your thoughts!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Wow, three chapters in three days, I'm on a roll here! I feel like this story has just been writing itself to be honest...but don't get used to this pace! Hah! 
> 
> Anyways, in case anyone is interested, I came up with the final section of this chapter while listening to the song "Like Real People Do" by Hozier. In my brain, that's Leo and Calypso's song, hah! If you'd like to get the mood I was going for, feel free to give it a listen as you get to the section on stars :)
> 
> ALSO I have to admit I smiled a lot while writing this, most of the chapters so far have been a lot of internal dialogues, so I've been really looking forward to coming up with some witty banter between Calypso and Leo--because we all know they'd fight like all the time!
> 
> PS- prepare for some cutesy fluff <3
> 
> Happy reading!

'To give up my immortality…'

Hephaestus had been gone for some time now, he'd left soon after informing Calypso of Aphrodite's sacrifice. He had awkwardly patted Calypso's shoulder and given her a drawstring bag, "Please give this to my son…tell him…tell him I'm proud." And then he'd vanished in a bright light.

She didn't even acknowledge his parting.

It wasn't that she'd never considered being mortal. Often times, when she was bored she would fantasize about living a normal, human life. Of growing old in the same place where she was born, of living a simple life—perhaps farming, of marrying some man who was maybe not rich, but who loved her. Sometimes she would think that perhaps her heroes would love her if she were mortal like them, and she would wish join them in their mortality. But that's all these were: fantasies.

Never once had Calypso actually confronted the idea of her own mortality.

The sudden existential anxiety that flooded Calypso's thoughts was almost claustrophobic. What would it be like to live every day of your life knowing that tomorrow was not promised? What would it be like to live in constant fear of death?

Her breathing increased—anything could happen to a mortal, after all! They could trip over a root and bang their head and die just like that! Or worse, what if she got sick and died one of those slow, agonizing deaths? And what of those mortals who lost limbs and had to live the rest of their lives as cripples? Could she do that? Did she have that kind of strength?

And then there was Leo. While before his memory loss she would have been inclined to believe that he'd stay with her after leaving this island, there was truly nothing binding him to her. After all, weren't mortals famous for being fickle? What if she gave up her mortality for him and he left her the second he was safe? How could she possibly make a living by herself? She had no real experience in the mortal world, and she was sure it was so different by now that a toddler would have more practical knowledge than she!

'We could always just stay here. If he stays on the island, we'll both be immortal.'

The thought, stopped her. It was an option. If they never left, they wouldn't die…they could spend the rest of eternity together on this island. Calypso had done it for millennia and survived, and having Leo with her would surely make the time even more interesting, if not enjoyable. After all, he didn't remember his friends, and if he stayed on this island he never would…

"There you are, Sunshine!" she jumped, while she'd been lost in thought, Leo had crept in behind her.

"Di immortales, you scared me!" She clutched her chest to still her beating heart, "And I thought I told you to stop calling me that."

He grinned cheekily, "No can do, Sunshine. It's your name and it's here to stay! What were you thinking about that got you so distracted?"

"Oh-umm," she looked at her hands holding the drawstring bag and considered telling him about his father's visit, but she quickly decided she wasn't ready to answer the questions it would undoubtedly inspire. So instead she smirked at him, "Nothing your puny brain could handle, Hot Head."

He laughed heartily, "Hot head, huh? Very original!" he said sarcastically.

She grinned at him, "And it's here to stay!"

He chuckled at her, then his smile dropped, "Hey, listen Calypso in all honesty though…I'm really sorry about what happened earlier."

"Leo I already told you—"

"No, please let me finish," he held his hand up to stall her words, "I know that you said you're okay and you forgive me, but I need to say this anyways." He took a breath, "I'm sorry that I snapped at you like that, I was tired and frustrated and I took it out on you when I shouldn't have…

"And about that kiss," his cheeks reddened slightly and he rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you or anything. I know I probably shouldn't have kissed you, especially after you said everything about how you feel—or felt—for me."

She interrupted him once more, "Leo I would never think that you were taking advantage of me. I know you're not that kind of person."

He grimaced, "Thing is, I'm not really sure what kind of person I am. I just feel like…" he shifted his feet uncomfortably and started pulling out random things from his toolbelt absentmindedly, "I wish I could tell you that I feel the same way about you Calypso, but the fact is that I don't know what I feel yet. Sometimes I feel so close to you and you seem so familiar to me, and other times I feel like we've only just met…" He sighed, frustrated, "I wish my brain was just some machine so I could just fix the hard drive and be done with it."

Calypso laughed softly, thinking of Hephaestus's similar words.

"Anyways, I guess I just want you to know that even though I might not remember everything about you and everything I felt for you, I still care about you Calypso. There's still some part of me, deep down, that knows you're important for me. I…want to make you happy. And I don't know how much of what I feel is left over from the past or how much of it is new but…I just want to know if that can be enough for you…for now." He looked at her with wide eyes, his hands finally still, his mouth slightly parted.

She smiled slowly, "Thank you, Leo." She stepped forward and hugged him fiercely, burying her face in the groove of his neck and breathing in the smell of him. She murmured into his neck "For now, it's enough."

He sighed and (finally!) returned her hug tightly, "Thank you for understanding," he murmured into her hair as he pressed his lips the top of her head.

All too soon, they broke away.

As she looked at him, she noticed the slight blush still lingering on his cheeks. Knowing how hard being this serious must have been for him, she decided to do him a kindness and offer him an out, "I think I like this no-brain Leo, he's a lot nicer to me!"

He grinned, taking her bait eagerly, "Oh yeah? No-brain Leo, huh? Well my brain's still big enough to know the difference between a Slot and a Phillips screwdriver!"

"How am I supposed to know there are different kinds? All those tools are completely foreign to me!"

"Well sure Sunshine, but you'd think after trying to make a Phillips fit into a Slot screw for more than 15 minutes you'd figure out that something's wrong!" He laughed heartily.

"Oh yeah?" she smirked, "At least I'm not a 'mechanic' that can't make it through the whole day without half his machines spontaneously combusting."

"Hey! That's just part of the process, Sunshine."

"I said stop calling me Sunshine, Hot Head."

"Whateeeeever you say, Princess."

She raised an eyebrow at the new name, "Ah, well at least if I was a princess I could order you around."

He laughed, "Isn't that what you already do anyways?"

"Yes, but then if you whine you would be decapitated."

"Well good thing no one ever gave you power," he said lightly.

She laughed in agreement, "Yes, all the Greeks would have cowered at my throne. I would have demanded sacrifices in my name every hour!"

"All the poor maidens would cower at your presence!"

"Oh no," she chuckled, "I would just demand the lives of measly hot-headed mechanics."

"See that's just not smart, us mechanics are very important to the kingdom. We make tools and weapons and machines, we're invaluable!"

She finally nodded her assent, he had her there. "Hey, I have an idea…"

He looked to her attentively, "Oh yeah?"

"We've been working nonstop on Festus for two weeks now. How about we take a day off tomorrow? We could go to the shore and just relax for a day."

He smiled at her, "That sounds perfect, Sunshine."

The following day, both she and Leo woke up late, as they had continued their light-hearted banter deep into the night. Excited for a day off with Leo, she jumped out of bed swiftly and threw on a dress she'd been saving for a special occasion. It was a rare gift from Apollo that he'd brought her some time ago; he said it was a called a sun-dress and he liked it because it had the word sun in it. The dress was olive green and reached half-way down her thighs—she was sorely tempted to spin around in it like a young child. She then braided her hair swiftly and went outside to meet Leo.

"Well don't you clean up nice," he was standing right outside the cave when she exited.

She tried not to blush, "I like to think I'm always clean."

He laughed, "Not quite what I meant, Sunshine."

She gave him an odd smile, confused, but glad that he was in a good mood this morning. Calypso had learned very early on that Leo was not a morning person, "You got everything we need?"

"Yes ma'am!" He picked up a basked lying by his feet with their food for today, he had insisted that they skip breakfast and lunch and instead have 'brunch' which apparently was the modern term for 'that meal you eat when you wake up so late it's basically lunch.' Or, at least, that's what Leo had told her.

They soon arrived at the small beach and were digging into their 'brunch' when Calypso decided to broach the topic of Hephaestus's visit the previous day. She had resolved last night to tell Leo of all the relevant parts, but decided to keep the issue of her immortality a secret for the time being.

"So, there's something you should know…" she started, he glanced up and motioned for her to continue, "your father came and visited me yesterday, while you were still working. He gave me some information on what happened to you…"

He sat up eagerly, "My dad was here?! Aww man, couldn't he come say hi or something? Geez!"

She gave him a sympathetic smile, "Unfortunately I think your father has meddled enough, I think it'll be some time before he can come see you face to face."

"Makes sense, I guess," he nodded. "So what did he tell you? Does he know how we can fix me?"

She proceeded to tell him everything that Hephaestus had told her except for the bit about Leo's life being dependent on her. And the part about his sacrifice being for love…he wasn't ready for that quite yet.

"Aww man, that's awesome!" he punched his fist into the air, "So once we get out of here we can just fly on over to the Camp and I'll be fixed over-night. Finally, we caught a break!"

She smiled tightly at him, "Yes, it seems we were both past due for one."

"WAIT!" he yelled suddenly, "So if I died…and I came back to life…" he looked up at her with wide, unbelieving eyes, "DOES THAT MEAN I'M A FREAKING ZOMBIE?!"

"You—what?"

He continued yelling excitedly, completely unaware of her confusion, "AWW MAN, I ALWAYS WANTED THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE TO COME BUT TO THINK I'M THE FIRST ZOMBIE. THIS TOTALLY CHANGES EVERYTHING!" he waved his hands wildly in the air.

"Erm, what's a zombie?" she asked timidly, he continued on.

"SO HOW DO I INFECT PEOPLE? I MEAN YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE A ZOMBIE, SO MAYBE I HAVE TO ACTUALLY BITE YOU? OR MAYBE I HAVE TO BLEED ON PEOPLE—"

"You're bleeding on who?!"

"BUT I'M STILL INTELLIGENT AND THE LIGHT DOESN'T HURT ME SO I COULD TOTALLY CREATE WEAPONS OF MASS ZOMBIE CONTAMINATION AND I COULD TURN EVERYONE INTO A ZOMBIE WITHOUT THEM EVEN REALIZING IT!" he proceeded to laugh evilly.

He was starting to seriously freak her out, so Calypso did the only reasonable thing. She dunked the pitcher of water over his head, "Snap out of it, Hot Head!"

He spluttered, "Wha—why?!"

She huffed, "You were being weird and ranting about some weird thing I don't understand."

He laughed at her, "Aww I'm sorry I worried you, Sunshine."

"I wasn't worried," she crossed her arms, "I was just annoyed."

He grinned, "Uh-huh, I'm sure. Aww man now I'm all wet!" He pouted adorably.

"Yeah well, you deserved it," she turned her nose up at him.

"But didn't you know water is my mortal weakness?"

"Of course I did."

Suddenly, a weird spark lit up his eyes. "Well in that case…." He muttered softly, and proceeded to start rolling up his pants. He rolled both legs of his pants up to his knees and stood up, taking off his shirt in the process.

Calypso immediately flushed, she could see the hard lines of his muscles and his strange scattering of scars gleamed strangely in the sunlight, "What—What are you doing, Valdez?" She looked down, feeling the heat in her cheeks.

"Oh, nothing…" he said innocently.

Then, Calypso suddenly felt herself be scooped up by strong arms, she squealed, "LEO VALDEZ PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT WHAT IN HADES' NAME ARE YOU DOING?!"

She tried kicking and flailing about, but Leo's hold was stronger than she'd anticipated, "Oh you know, just getting some decent payback…" He started walking towards the water.

"OH NO, DON'T YOU DARE. DON'T YOU FREAKING DARE VALDEZ I WILL KILL YOU, I WILL LAY A TERRIBLE CURSE ON YOU AND MAKE ALL YOUR TEETH FALL OFF, I WILL—"

"Now, now, Sunshine," he said pleasantly, "you can't just make idle threats like that."

"LEO I SWEAR ON ALL THE GODS OF OLYMPUS IF YOU DARE TO—" she couldn't finish her sentence because at that moment, Leo had unceremoniously dropped her into the water. She came up for air, sputtering, "ARGHHHHHHH!"

He laughed loudly, "Oh my gods—" he gasped for air, "Ay dios mio, if you could see your face!" he laughed some more and clutched at his stomach, "You look like a drowned mouse!" Tears were starting to form in his eyes from laughter.

She stood, completely drenched from head to toe, "Oh yeah?" she lunged at him, and they both fell into the water this time, he came up for air, spitting out water, "How's that for payback?"

"Aww no fair, I wasn't ready!" but before he could finish wiping the water off his face, Calypso splashed him. "Hey! I call foul!"

She laughed at him, "My island, my rules!"

"Oh yeah? Challenge accepted!"

They continued playing in the water for most of the day, eventually making their way out of the water once the sun started setting. They sat on the beach and watched the sun set as they dried out, eventually falling back and collapsing into soft giggles from one of Leo's stupid jokes that were definitely not funny.

They laid there quietly for some time, simply enjoying each other's company, and soon the sky was covered in stars. Eventually Leo pointed up to a constellation, "There I am, that's Leo! My favorite constellation!"

Calypso smiled, easily picking it out in the sky, "Do you know the story behind it?"

He nodded and tucked his arm under his head, "It was put up there by Zeus to honor Hercules after he defeated the Nemean Lion."

"Well yes, that's the story they like to tell people…" she said.

He turned to her eagerly, "Oh yeah? So what really happened?"

"Well, it's a very close guarded secret; I'd get in lots of trouble if this ever got out…"

He mimed placing a lock on his lips and throwing away the key, "My lips are sealed!"

She giggled, "Well Zeus would love for everyone to think that Hercules bravely defeated the Lion…but what really happened is that he got scared and turned tail, but he tripped on his way out and when it pounced on him the Lion accidentally stabbed Hercules's sword into its own mouth."

"So you're telling me," Leo said eagerly, "that Hercules chickened out and the Lion killed itself?"

"Pretty much," she chuckled.

He laughed, "Aww man, that's hilarious! And Zeus bragging for all of eternity about his precious son! Do you know any other stories?!"

"See that one right there?" She pointed, "That's Crater, Apollo got drunk one night and put it up to honor himself without Zeus's permission. He was so mad at him! Apollo lost his Oracle at Delphi for a whole decade as punishment!"

"Wait—god's get drunk?!"

She laughed, "When Dionysus gets involved, even gods get drunk! Oh you should see them when they get on it, this one time…"

She proceeded to tell him a multitude of stories of the gods' drunken stupors, and Leo laughed heartily at every one. As he finished wiping his eyes after a particularly ridiculous story involving Dionysus, Apollo, and one of Hera's peacocks, he sighed deeply, "Man, I didn't think you'd know so much dirt on these crazy gods."

"Yes well, the gods just love to gossip about one another."

"So," he turned to her once more, "what's your favorite constellation?"

She sighed, and looked up at the sky for a while, "That one," she pointed it out, "it's a new one, it's called The Huntress."

Leo's voice mellowed out as he noticed her change in demeanor, "What's the story behind that one?"

"It was…my sister," she said slowly, "Her name was Zoe."

"What happened?" His voice was soft.

"She was a member of Artemis's Hunt, and she went on a quest with one of your friends, Percy to rescue Artemis and Annabeth. She had to…" she gulped at the sudden knot in her throat, "She had to fight my father. Atlas."

Leo put his hand over hers, "I'm sorry."

She squeezed his hand in return, he didn't retrieve it. "We weren't really close, Zoe and I. She was only my half-sister, and I had plenty of those…but still. It's nice to know that one of his daughters was able to stand up to him…I've never had the chance."

He breathed out, "You'll never have to, as long as I can help it."

She smiled softly at him, "I'm sure."

He stared back at the sky, "What's the story behind that one?"

"It was a rather tragic tale, actually…" She told him the stories of tragic loves and epic conquests, all laid out in the stars.

They had been quiet for some time, and Calypso was almost certain he was asleep when she heard his quiet whisper, "I can't wait to get out of here. We can go anywhere we want and have our own epic quests," he turned to her, "do you think that we could maybe get a constellation named after us?"

She turned to him and ran her spare hand (the one that wasn't still holding Leo's) down the side of his face, "Yes, Leo, I think we could."

His eyes lit up, "It'll be the brightest in the sky!"

"I don't doubt it with your Hot Head."

"Don't forget, Sunshine's pretty bright too."

They both smiled, and—because the moment seemed right—she leaned forward and gave Leo a soft kiss. He smiled shyly at her and turned his head back to the sky, she did the same. Eventually, Leo's deep, even breathing assured Calypso that this time Leo really had fallen asleep and she felt herself already drifting off.

She tightened her grip on his hand ever so slightly, "Don't worry Leo; I'll get you out of here." She spoke quietly into the night, "even if I have to give up my own life to do so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :')
> 
> I've been really looking forward to this chapter, I've had it in mind for quite some time now. 
> 
> For those of you that looked up the song, let me know if that helped you understand the chapter and their emotions better, I usually get inspired by music, so I can definitely start referring you to my inspirations if that helps set the story a bit better :)
> 
> Also, drop me a line and let me know what you think of the characterization of Leo and Calypso, I'm trying to get them more comfortable with each other and acting more like they originally did in the books 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey all! Sorry I haven't posted in a little bit, I've been crazy busy these past few weeks! Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed, I really appreciate any and all feedback you guys give me! I apologize that this chapter is a little shorter than the usual, but it was the only way to break up the story in a way that makes sense. I'll write a little note on what's coming up in the next chapters at the end, so for now, enjoy!

Leo woke up to the smell of cinnamon.

He kept his eyes shut, almost wishing to drift back into sleep. It was the first night in two weeks that he hadn't had a nightmare, he was sure this was the best sleep he'd gotten in his life. He inhaled the sweet scent of cinnamon and snuggled in closer to Calypso in an attempt to get back to sleep.

'Wait. Calypso?!' He opened his eyes quickly. 'Oh.'

There she was, still asleep and looking as gorgeous as ever—did this girl ever have a bad hair day? At some point in the night, he guessed, him and Calypso had drifted off to sleep and they'd somehow ended up with Calypso rolled into his chest and his arm draped over her. Once more, he wished he could remember loving her.

'She's been through so much because of me….' He gazed gently at her and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She smiled lightly in her sleep. 'I wish there was some way to pay her back...'

Then, he got an idea: every morning, Calypso would wake up before him and prepare breakfast for the both of them. So, since he'd woken up first this time, he could make some for her!

Excited at the prospect of surprising her, Leo gently removed his arm from around her and stood up slowly so as to not wake her. She shivered, it was still before sunrise and there was still a chill in the air, so he grabbed his discarded army jacket a few yards away and gently draped it over her. After she snuggled into it and Leo was sure she wouldn't be waking up, he stole away towards her garden.

He picked a decent variety of his and Calypso's favorite fruits, and made especially sure to get plenty of green grapes since she'd told him those were her favorites. Then, feeling that it wasn't quite enough, he looked about for something else to serve. At the edge of the garden he noticed a small basket and when he looked into it he saw a six eggs sitting neatly inside it. He wasn't quite sure where the eggs had come from, but figured he had Calypso's mysterious air spirits to thank for them. He hadn't yet figured out who or what those were, but after Calypso dismissed them and advised that he not worry about them, he had cast them out of his mind.

Regardless, he figured it was safe to use the eggs, so he picked up the basket and called out a "Thank you" to the mysterious beings and went about his way. He quickly rummaged around Calypso's wall of supplies inside the cave and found some salt and pepper and took those out to the garden with him.

Now to cook the eggs. He looked around, hoping to find a standard kitchen or a kitchenette or even an electric griddle or something, but no such luck. All he saw was some kind of fire pit located at the edge of the garden. It looked recently used and Leo had a vague recollection of there being a fire coming from there a few nights ago when Calypso made stew.

"Alright fire pit, fire powers, no problemo!" he smiled eagerly and lit a fire.

He saw a heavy, cast iron skillet near the fire and smiled, "There you are, you beautiful thing! Two sunny side eggs coming right up!" He picked it up eagerly and threw it right into the fire, feeling confident since the fire would never harm him.

He then quickly cracked two eggs straight into the skillet and threw some salt and pepper over them, once the eggs were done, he picked the skillet up and tried to gently slide the eggs into a plate, but in the process cracked the yolk.

"Aww man! They're ruined!" He wailed, what was the point of eggs when the yolk was already cracked?

So he tossed them aside and put the skillet back in the fire, adding two new eggs into it. As it was, he was a bit too eager when cracking the second egg, and it exploded in his hand, and of course, bits of shell landed on the other egg, cracking the yolk. He sighed and tossed those too.

He glanced back at the basket, "Okay, two eggs left. I can do this!"

Carefully, he cracked the eggs onto the skillet, seasoning them just right. After they looked done, he picked the skillet up from the fire once more and oh so slowly eased them out onto the plates.

"Awww yeah! Call me Chef McShizzle! Sunshine's about to taste the best breakfast she's ever had in her life!"

He put out the fire and carefully maneuvered his plates of eggs over to Calypso's breakfast table, gently placing them down. In an attempt to get just a little fancy, he began to slice up strawberries, grapes and kiwis, placing them in colorful arrangements next to his beautiful, perfect eggs. He even picked a few flowers and placed them in a vase.

Once he was done setting everything up, he took a couple of steps back to look over his work. Pleased, he turned around to go wake up Calypso, but noticed her approaching from just a ways off.

"Well good morning, Sunshine!" he called eagerly—he was maybe a little excited about surprising her.

As she got closer, Leo realized she'd slipped on his army jacket. On her petite frame, the jacket looked huge on her: the sleeves were dragging past her arms and the bottom of the jacket hung low on her body. He had never realized just how tiny she was; with her beauty and her personality, Calypso had always seemed larger than life to him. But there, with her sundress wrinkly from being slept on, her hair escaping from its braid and with that giant jacket draped over her she just looked so…fragile.

'Yeah right,' he snorted internally, 'as if Calypso could ever be fragile. She'd break me just for thinking that.'

"Good morning, Hot Head," she said with a yawn, "what's all this?"

He grinned proudly, "I made breakfast! Surprise!"

She raised a delicate eyebrow as she approached her seat, "Is it edible?"

"Aww come on, Sunshine, have you no faith?" he pouted at her.

She laughed softly, "Thank you, Leo. It looks lovely."

"Well dig in then!" he said excitedly.

She picked up her fork and broke off a small piece of the egg, and began chewing it slowly, her face breaking into the slightest of grimaces.

"Well? Is it any good?" he stared at her, waiting to gauge her reaction.

"Leo," she asked after she swallowed heavily, "how long did you leave the eggs in the skillet to cook?"

"Not too long, just about a minute or two…." He trailed off, now unsure of himself.

She cleared her throat delicately, "Right, and how long had the skillet been in the fire?"

He thought back, "I dunno, maybe like ten minutes?"

She nodded, "Yes, well that would explain it."

"Explain what?" he was starting to get a little annoyed, his eggs were totally cooked to perfection, what was there to complain about?

"Well, Leo, what happens when the skillet gets too hot is that" she turned her plate closer to him and lifted up the edge of her egg, "your food gets burnt."

He glanced down and realized that the entire bottom of the egg was entirely black, "Oh."

She giggled, "Aww it's okay Hot Head, it's the thought that counts, right?"

He sighed and crossed his arms in frustration, " I guess."

"How about," she said, "from now on, I'll handle the cooking and you can handle the building?"

"Fine, but the second we're out of here and find a decent kitchen, I'm cooking you my world famous enchiladas!"

Soon after that day he woke up in the beach, Leo lost track of the days. He and Calypso resumed working on Festus, if only at a slightly slower pace than before. He had realized the day they'd resumed work that Calypso seemed overly pensive, and would often drift off into her thoughts and stop working altogether.

He tried asking her what was on her mind a number of times, but every time he asked she would stare intently at him, nod her head, smile lightly at him, and say "Nothing you need to worry about."

It bugged Leo to no end when she would do this, but he soon gave up trying to figure out what was on her mind, she seemed determined to keep it private. And either way, Leo found that he was entirely too preoccupied with his own demons half the time.

Little by little, memories of his childhood were leaking in though his dreams. The nightmares had returned with a vengeance since that night under the stars, and he was beginning to piece together large chunks of his past. It frustrated Leo to no end that the memories that came back to him were no less than 5 or 6 years old, so he still lacked memories of anything that had happened to him in the more recent years. Add to that the fact that most of these memories were downright terrible and that he would often wake up two or three times a night and Leo felt like he could scream at any moment.

Leo's rapidly increasing exhaustion significantly slowed down his progress, and he was almost glad that Calypso was too preoccupied to call him out on it, he didn't want to snap at her like he had the last time. The more he worked with her though, the more his respect and admiration for Calypso increased. She was never more beautiful than when she would smile up at him at the end of the day with grease stains on her face, he was sure that without that sight he would have lost his drive completely.

Sometimes, Leo couldn't help but dwell on his and Calypso's relationship. Whenever she looked frustrated he wanted to do nothing more than to pull her into his arms, and when she laughed he had to hold himself back from kissing her outright. He wasn't quite sure what to make of her, it seemed like that day on the beach was suspended in time, like it wasn't a part of the real fabric of reality. They had fallen back into their usual banter, and while he immensely enjoyed speaking with her, he wished he could just be with her.

And yet, he always pulled back. That guilt that sat heavy in his gut would always emerge whenever he thought to show any affection towards her. How he wished he could remember something else!

Later that night, Leo woke up from yet another nightmare. He sat up in his bed, panting for breath, his throat felt raw and he was sure he'd been screaming. He only hoped that—

"Leo?" Calypso's voice, muted and timid came from the entrance of his room, "Are you okay?

He allowed a small flame to emerge from his fingertip, just enough to make out Calypso's small figure in the darkness, "Hey Sunshine, sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep, I'm fine."

She ignored his words and stepped further into the room, "I'm not blind, Leo Valdez. I know you haven't been sleeping lately."

He gave her a reluctant half smile, "I was kind of hoping you didn't notice."

"Do you want to talk about it?" her voice was still quiet, more gentle than he'd ever heard it.

"It was just a dream, nothing you need to worry about. I promise."

"You know," she sat at the edge of his bed and he scooted over to make room for her, "you don't have to act so strong all the time. You're a special kind of hero, Leo, and unfortunately that can come with a heavy burden."

He sighed, "I guess. Maybe. I don't know." He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, "I've been remembering some things from my past. It was…I didn't think it would be so hard, remembering things."

She moved further into the bed and nestled herself at his side, her head resting lightly on his chest, "Start from the beginning."

So he told her. He told her of his childhood, of the brief memories he had of his mother and how she taught him Morse Code and let him help her around the shop. Of how she was always happy, even though she was constantly struggling to make ends meet. He told her of his crazy Tia Callida, and how she'd thrown him into the fire and made him fight rattlesnakes. And then…

"The day my mother died," he spoke slowly, "there was a fire. I think that…I caused it." He swallowed, "Calypso, I think that I killed my mother."

There, the thought that had been haunting him for days was finally out in the open. Every night he would dream of the fire that killed his mother, and every night he would wake up in a cold sweat, knowing to a certainty that he had killed his own mother.

Calypso sat up slowly, and he stiffened, unsure of how she would react. "Leo," she locked gazes with him and there was something in her eyes that he'd never seen before, "you may have done many things in your life that you may not be proud of. But I can tell you with absolute certainty that you did not kill your mother."

He shut his eyes, wanting to believe her, "How can you know that though? How can you know for sure? I keep seeing that fire over and over every single night. The fire that I started. Why would I start a fire for no reason? It was all my fault!" He wiped furiously at his face, embarrassed that some tears had leaked out.

After a short pause, she spoke, "I'd like to try something."

He looked up at her, confused at her sudden calmness, "Try what?"

"I want you to understand that I cannot bring all your memories back," she said evenly, "The magic of the River Lethe is much stronger than my own. But, I do still have the ability of seeing into the past. I can only see brief windows, and often what I see may not make much sense. I cannot use this gift often for fear that it will offend the gods. But I think that this situation calls for it."

"What…what exactly are you saying?"

"Leo," she spoke, "I noticed there was something eating away at you since your first week back on this island. I figured that you just wanted your memories back, but I see now that it's the memories you do have that are haunting you. I have absolutely no doubt that what happened to your mother was not your fault. The River Lethe is sinister, and often the memories that come back to you are not complete. If you'd let me, I would like to delve deeper into that memory, so that you can see what I know to be true."

"You would do that for me? Risk angering the gods?"

"Of course."

He hesitated, "Will it hurt?"

"No Leo, you will feel nothing. Are you ready?"

He nodded, "Okay, do your worst."

She smiled grimly at him and placed her hands on his temples, "Close your eyes," she whispered.

He obliged her and shut his eyes. Immediately, the content of his nightmare sprang back into his mind and once more he saw himself at eight years old. But then, he noticed another presence in the memory, a sinister presence that frightened his younger self immensely. She spoke of the future and told him of how she would "break" him. Frightened, Leo had reacted by using his fire against her, but she seemed to swoop towards him and manipulate the fire to her own means. Then, the ceiling came crashing down and he was blacked out.

He opened his eyes quickly, "What—who was that?!"

"That," Calypso spoke stiffly, "was my dearest grandmother, Gaea. She meant to rise and bring about the second Age of Giants. She sought to tear down Olympus and mankind, and she knew that you were destined to defeat her."

She sat forward and gripped his hands tightly, "Leo, it won't make up for what she took away from you, but know that you stopped her. What she did to you is unforgivable, but take comfort in the fact that it was not your fault. Your mother dying, you defeating Gaea, it was all Fate. You can't control the Fates, no one can."

He breathed out, feeling as if an enormous weight had been lifted off his chest, "I know. I think…I think I understand what you mean. I feel like I had made peace with this before, like I knew it was out of my control." He squeezed her hands that were still gripping his, "Thank you for this Calypso, you have no idea how relieved I feel."

"Anything for you, Hot Head," She smiled dizzily at him and suddenly collapsed forward.

"Calypso!" he caught her quickly, "Are you okay? What happened?'

"It's nothing," she murmured softly, "that took more out of me than I thought. Really strong magic, that Lethe."

"You told me it wouldn't hurt to look through my past!"

She closed her eyes tiredly, "No, I told you it wouldn't hurt you."

He sighed, frustrated, "Is there something I can do to make it better? Do you need anything? What can I do?"

"I'll be fine," she said slowly, "I just need some rest."

He settled her more comfortably into the bed and made to stand up, but Calypso's surprisingly strong grip on his wrist stopped him, "What is it, do you need something?"

"Stay."

"Okay."

Leo settled back down into the bed and felt Calypso snuggle up to him once more, and he slung his arms around her and breathed in that sweet scent of cinnamon.

"Hey, Sunshine?" he whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." He closed his eyes and fell into his first peaceful sleep in weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yay for cuddling! I'm just about ready to get these two out of that godforsaken island, so in the next chapter they'll be finishing up their preparations—get excited for Camp! The next chapter after that will be from the point of view of one of my favorite characters who will be at Camp Half-Blood. 10 points to Slytherin for whoever can guess who that is!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and please leave me a note with your thoughts!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: the last chapter in Ogygia :')
> 
> please enjoy a lot of fluffy goodness, but know that all the good stuff is coming after this. Once they're out in the real world is when all the fun starts! Mwahahaha! Enjoy!

Calypso didn't use to sleep in late. Like ever. She used to wake up with the first drop of sunlight. She used to hate lazing about in bed all day. She used to love working in her garden early in the morning and listening to the sweet music of the songbirds as they woke.

Lately though, she kept waking up late. And when she woke, she would close her eyes and snuggle back into bed, trying to cling to a few more precious moments of sleep. She would not mind it one bit if she could stay in bed all day drifting in and out of her dreams.

Of course, this might all have a lot to do with a certain curly haired Latino that had a tendency to snuggle up to her in her sleep. It might have a bit to do with the fact that he was always so warm and she couldn't quite stomach the rush of cold that shocked her every time she got out of bed. She never realized how cold mornings were before. And the days when half-asleep Leo would pout and stubbornly refuse to let her leave his arms were nearly impossible for her.

And on this particular morning, Calypso realized why she kept sleeping in so late. For the first time since she set foot on Ogygia, Calypso felt happy. It was a strange feeling, happiness. She had almost forgotten entirely what it felt like.

She turned to the sleeping boy at her side and poked him in the cheek, "Leo! Leo, wake up!"

"Hmplerffff…" He rolled over.

"Leoooooo," she poked his back, "wake up! Come on you lazy Hot Head!"

"Whaddoyawant?" came his garbled response.

She rolled her eyes and moved to more aggressive maneuvers, "I said," she slammed her pillow down on his head, "wake up!"

"Whyyyyy?!" he whined as he ripped the pillow from her hands and sat up, "Is the violence really necessary?"

"Only when you refuse to wake up," she giggled.

He ran a hand through his face and looked sideways at her, "You're chipper this morning." He deadpanned.

"Well of course! Why wouldn't I be? It's a beautiful day outside, we both got a good night's rest, and we're almost done rebuilding Festus!" She resumed poking his back, "Now stop being lazy and get up!"

He growled in the back of his throat, "I'm warning you, Sunshine. You cut that happy stuff out. It's too early."

"What happy stuff?" she teased as she stuck her smiling face in front of him and poked his cheek.

"Mira mujer, si te tengo que decir una vez mas…" he mumbled as he held her hands down.

"You know I don't understand your Spanish," Leo had remembered that he spoke Spanish about a week ago, and as of late the language was slipping out more and more frequently. He said it was probably since he kept having dreams of his youth when he mostly spoke Spanish, but Calypso secretly thought that he was doing it just to annoy her. Or maybe he realized just how attractive the language sounded on him and he wanted to torture her. Both were equally possible.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm going back to sleep," he lay back down and covered his face with his pillow.

She huffed, ripped the pillow from his face and slammed it into his stomach, "I said WAKE UP!"

He groaned, "Fine! I'm up, I'm up! Dios mio, now stop beating me, woman!"

She whooped and jumped off the bed, "Well good morning to you too, Mr. Valdez."

He groggily stood up and embraced her, "Good morning, Sunshine." He planted a peck on the edge of her mouth and proceeded to go about getting ready for the day. Calypso smiled and did the same, moving on to prepare their breakfast soon after.

Ever since Leo's screams had woken her in the middle of the night about a month back, her and Leo had gotten closer than ever. After Leo opened up to her and she helped him work through his demons, the floodgates opened. The next night, Leo had woken her up to tell her of his most recent nightmare and they fell asleep speaking about everything and nothing at all. Every night after that, either Leo's screams would wake her and she would go to him, or he would come to her. Eventually, they realized they both slept better next to each other.

Leo's memories were leaking through at a faster rate every night, and Calypso was beyond thrilled that he trusted her enough to discuss them with her. She knew more about Leo than she had before, there was an entire side to Leo that he'd never told her about the first time he was on her island, and she loved learning more and more about him.

Not all the memories he shared were happy ones, but some were. He told her of his past growing up with his mother and how happy he had been. Sometimes he would tell her of the various foster homes he lived in, of how cruel they were. Calypso had on occasions shed angry tears when he told her of how he was mistreated, of how he'd run away so many times because he couldn't endure the homes anymore.

And through it all, their relationship had blossomed. As Leo opened up to Calypso, so did Calypso open up to him. Sometimes she would share tidbits of her past that even the gods weren't familiar with: of how it felt growing up as a daughter of Atlas, of her mother whose fate she would never know, of her siblings who were mostly killed off by the gods, of how it felt to see so many people leave her behind.

Leo turned out to be a great listener, and Calypso was able to get things off her chest that she had carried with her for millennia. He always had a quick joke or smart remark at the tip of his tongue to cheer her up, and she was beyond grateful for each of them. Soon, Leo knew everything about her and although Leo's memories were still not back, she felt that she knew him in a way that no one else had before.

The Leo that stood before her now was matured, and though he still had many demons haunting him, she was proud of how he struggled with them and fought every day. She was more in love with him than she ever thought was possible. Of course, the "I love you's" hadn't come quite yet, but for now she was content with it all. Leo had slowly begun to show his affection for her, and every time he would hold her or kiss her she felt like she was flying. Perhaps after Leo got his memories back she would broach the subject with him, after all, how could he understand his feelings for her if there was still so much of his memories missing?

"I think today might be the day, Sunshine."

It was nearing twilight, and Calypso and Leo were working side by side on a recently assembled Festus, who was gleaming brightly under the setting island sun.

"Are you sure? Already?" she took a step back and inspected their handiwork, amazed to see just how much work they had gotten done.

"Yeah, I just have to connect a few more wires and give him one last system's check and he should be ready to fly by tomorrow."

Creak, creak. Creeeeeeeeeak, apparently, Festus was quite the chatty fellow.

Leo turned back to the machine absentmindedly and fiddled with some wires at the base of the dragon's head. He turned to her and took her hand, "we did it, Sunshine."

She smiled and squeezed his hand, "I can't believe it. I feel like time went by so fast! So tomorrow?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Tomorrow."

She looked back at Festus, "Wow. At this time tomorrow we could be in the mortal world…"

"Are you scared?"

She shook her head softly, a cold feeling settling into her chest, "No…just…nervous, I suppose."

She hadn't told him yet. She couldn't tell him. How could she tell Leo that the second she stepped off this island she would be giving up her mortality for him? There was no way Calypso would tell him, Leo was an honorable man, and she knew he cared about her. She couldn't risk him giving up his life for her, he had to get out of this island, get his memories back, to find his friends. Leo had saved her in every way possible; she couldn't possibly burden him with her mortality. This was her decision to make, her turn to be selfless.

"Well don't be, whatever happens out there, I'll be right by your side no matter what."

She smiled at him then, "Come, we should eat dinner and go to sleep early, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

After a filling meal of cider and stew, Leo's favorite, the two found themselves laying in Calypso's bed, both lost in their thoughts of what was to come the following day. Calypso was comfortably snuggled up to Leo, who had lazily slung his arm around her earlier.

Suddenly, he pulled her closer to him, "Calypso."

She looked up at him, intrigued by his serious tone, "What is it Leo?"

"Before we get off this island, I just want you to know…" he trailed off, his eyes looking downwards.

"Leo?" she said softly, nudging him.

He took a deep breath and looked back up at her, "I love you, Calypso. I know I don't have all my memories back and I know there's still a lot that I don't know. But I want—no I need you to know that it doesn't matter. Right here, right now, at this moment and for the rest of my life, I'm in love with you Calypso, and when we get off this island no matter what memories I get or who is waiting for me out there, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

She gasped softly, tears springing to her eyes, "Leo…"

"I know you think I need my all my memories before I can say all of this to you, but I don't. I don't need to remember our first meeting to know that you make me happy. I don't need to know all about Camp Half-Blood to know you're the funniest, smartest, most beautiful woman I will ever meet in my life. I was willing to risk my entire life to come back to you before, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I love you Calypso, and nothing's going to change that."

He sat there, looking at her so earnestly, so steady, so confident.

"I love you too, Leo Valdez. More than you know."

He kissed her then, and it was different. This time, they both knew where they stood. They were venturing off into who knows where tomorrow, but at this moment all Calypso knew is that she loved him and he loved her, and it was enough. It was everything.

For once in her life, Calypso was kissing the man she loved, and she knew this man loved her in return.

She wasn't quite sure when it happened, but all at once the kiss wasn't enough. Calypso found herself pinned to her bed with Leo on top of her, both of them gripping at each other in heated, desperate motions.

"Calypso," his voice was deep, husky. It stirred feelings within her that she had never felt before. "We don't—"

She cut him off with another heated kiss, "No. I want to. I love you Leo Valdez."

He looked at her then, giving her a half smile that nearly melted her, "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"

She smirked and rolled the both of them over, suddenly confident. "You could tell me one more time, just to make sure."

He chuckled and sat up, "You're the most beautiful woman in this entire world," he cupped her cheek in his callused hand, "I'm sure of it."

She gave him a smile and leaned forward, but rather than kissing him, this time she reached for the edge of his shirt. She tugged it off him slowly, taking in the familiar mixture of muscles and scars that she'd seen every now and again. She traced a finger lightly down one of the longer scars.

He made a strange sound at the back of his throat, but she ignored it, "Do you remember getting this one?" she asked.

"Drunken foster dad, cut me with a broken bottle," he mumbled.

She kissed the scar, moving on to another one, "And this one?"

"I was six, thought I could handle a repair job by myself. I couldn't."

She went through the same motion, moving on to another, "This?"

"Um, I think that was some kid at a soup kitchen. I took the last bit of bread and he had a knife."

"You've been through so much…" she mumbled as she proceeded to kiss each one of his scars, "and this one?"

He made that strange sound again, "I really can't remember right now, Calypso."

She looked up to him and saw that his eyes were half closed, "What can you remember?"

"You." He pushed her back down onto the bed and buried his face into her neck, trailing kisses up and down her jawline, "You're all I can think about right now."

"Okay."

Calypso lay in bed the next morning, feeling warm in Leo's arms. She closed her eyes, snuggling deeper into his embrace, thinking of the previous night. Despite being an immortal and having experienced so much, Calypso had never made love with a man. She had promised her father that she would remain a virgin goddess for as long as she lived, and it seemed fitting that she would break her vow the night before she relinquished her immortal life.

Leo had been caring and gentle, and she felt closer to him now than she ever thought possible. She couldn't believe she was as happy as she was at this moment, it almost didn't feel fair to the rest of the world to be this content.

"Morning Sunshine," Leo's arms tightened around her and he placed a kiss to the top of her head, "How are you feeling this fine morning?"

She looked up at him, "Gods above, who ever thought I would see the day when Leo Valdez was in a good mood this early in the day?"

He chuckled, "Well spending an amazing night with the woman you love will do that to a man."

"Oh yeah? And here I thought all you needed to be happy was your Tool Belt and some of those 'Hot Cheetos' you keep talking about."

"Nah, you're way better than Hot Cheetos," he said lightly, "now a Honey-Butter-Chicken-Biscuit, I don't know that anyone or anything could be better than that."

"A honey chicken what?" he'd said that so fast she didn't even catch what in the world he had said.

"A Honey. Butter. Chicken. Biscuit. You haven't lived until you've had a honey butter chicken biscuit!" he cried dramatically.

"I still have no idea what in the world you are saying. Are you still speaking English?"

He laughed, "Don't worry Sunshine, when we visit Texas I'll take you to Whataburger to go try one. I pinky promise."

She sat up, suddenly excited, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get the hell off this island!"

He laughed and jumped out of bed, "Honey butter chicken biscuits, here we come!"

They proceeded to get dressed and ate a quick breakfast, both too excited to eat much. They had each packed about two bags of clothes, and Calypso had also prepared some food and water to take with them, though Leo had assured her that food wouldn't be necessary. He insisted that they would get to land quickly, but when she asked how they would pay for provisions he simply waived some plastic card in front of her face and explained something about a "credit card." It was one of the few items that had been in the bag that Hephaestus had left behind for Leo, Leo claimed that this would fund their entire trip, but she just couldn't believe the card could be worth all that much…

All too soon, all their bags were stowed safely inside Festus' belly, and they came back to the cave for a final look to ensure they had left nothing behind. Calypso looked around the cave and at her garden, thinking of all the time she'd spent on this island, working on her garden, carving out crystals from her cave…

"Calypso?" His voice was soft, "Is there anything else you want to take?"

She looked around once more, "No," she turned to him, "I have everything I need."

He smiled and led her to Festus, who sat just at the edge of the garden, "Here, I'll give you a hand."

He hoisted her up onto the dragon's back and she climbed up dutifully, settling comfortably in the seat Leo had installed for her.

He stood there, looking up at her, a smile on his face, "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he shook his head and began climbing up, "just seeing you, sitting up there…you look like you're ready to go out and conquer the world."

"With you and all the tricks this dragon has, I'm pretty sure I could."

He smirked at her and settled into his seat, "All right Festus, are we good to go?"

Creak. Creek!

"You ready to get out of here, Sunshine?"

She looked around Ogygia once more. For the last time, "Yes, I'm ready."

"Whatever happens out there, I love you Sunshine."

Festus began to shift under her, and she wrapped her arms firmly around Leo, "I love you too, Leo Valdez."

Then, Festus expanded his wings to their full length and with a giant swoosh of his wings, thrust them into the air.

She didn't look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Ooooh did y'all see all the love-doveyness coming? Sorry I didn't give you any graphic details, but I wanted to keep Caleo as classy as I could. Next chapter will be from the POV of someone in Camp Half-Blood, so be excited for that! (I'm so ready to write from another character's point of view :O)
> 
> In regards to the famous honey butter chicken biscuits from Whataburger, I would like to say that I agree with Leo. He gets me because he's also from Texas ;)
> 
> Please review and let me know what your thoughts are!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I've been dying to write from Nico's perspective, that kid really grew on me in Blood of Olympus :')
> 
> Woot! Chapter 10! Finally made it to the double digits :D
> 
> Anyways, enjoy a brief peek into Camp Half-Blood!

"I'm telling you, there's no way they'd fall for that!" Clarisse was fussing at Annabeth.

Annabeth huffed, "And I'm telling you it will definitely work, Percy and I have trained with them plenty. They won't see it coming, right Percy?"

She turned to look at her boyfriend, but he seemed much more interested in Travis Stroll and Will Solace's heated thumb wrestling match, "Percy!"

"Huh? What? Yes!" he turned to Annabeth quickly, trying to catch up with the conversation, "Whatever Annabeth said."

Nico rolled his eyes, 'Typical Percy Jackson. You'd think he would have grown out of it by now…' He tried paying attention to the conversation again, but Clarisse and Annabeth were dominating the most of it as they were the "war experts."

All cabin leaders had assembled in the Big House to plan for the 3nd Annual Greek versus Rome war games. Percy and Annabeth had been spending the last two years going to college in New Rome, but they still retained their leadership positions and returned during the summer and winter breaks. After the success of the Second Giant War three years ago the camps had agreed to coexist peacefully, but seeing as both groups were naturally aggressive, they had decided to set up an annual "War" between both groups so they could let out all of their aggression. The idea was met with much eagerness by both camps and unsurprisingly, they both took the games way too seriously.

The Greeks had been victorious the first year, but they were defeated by the Romans the year before and were out for blood. Naturally, the Romans had been boasting over their victory for an entire year and as the games got closer the Greek camp was in a frenzy to reclaim their title as champions. In honor of the battle that brought them together, the games were scheduled to occur on August 1st, which was only a month away. Cabin leaders were now meeting at least once a week to track everyone's progress and ensure that all their strategies were fool-proof.

"How about you, Di Angelo? You've been to the Roman camp, notice anything that could give us a leg up?"

Nico glanced up, thinking quickly, "Hmm nothing more than what Annabeth and Percy have reported. Just be thankful they're not bringing that elephant all the way out here. We'll have the home field advantage this time around."

Clarisse nodded thoughtfully, "So they won't have Hannibal, that's something. What about your sister? Will she be riding that horse of hers this time?"

"Probably," he said, "She hasn't been very forthcoming about her plans, but my guess is—"

He cut himself off and gasped in shock, his eyes widening. 'No, it couldn't be…it's impossible!' A cold shiver ran down his spine, and all of a sudden he felt unbearably warm…almost like he was on fire. 'There's just no way…'

"Nico?" several voices called out to him, and when he looked up he saw that everyone was staring at him in alarm.

"I just felt…" he trailed off, confused. He took off his aviator jacket and realized he was sweating.

Will Solace stepped towards him and put his hand on his forehead to check his temperature, "What is it? Do you sense a great disturbance in the force?" he said with half-hearted grin.

Jason and Percy snorted appreciatively; sometimes it freaked Nico out how well the three of them got along.

He brushed Will's hand off his forehead, blushing and hot for a different reason, "I'm fine." He mumbled, uncomfortable with the sudden attention.

"Your temperature's a little high," Will looked at him intently, then he relaxed and smiled, "but that could just be because I'm unbearably hot."

Nico let out an aggravated sigh and Piper giggled, "Leave the poor boy alone, Will. You're making him blush!"

Jason spoke up, the grin slipping off his face, "But really though, what happened?"

Nico frowned, "I felt…but it's not possible. It can't be right…"

"What, Nico? What was it? Did someone die? Does someone need help?" Will was clutching his hand, watching Nico intently.

Nico shook his head; he had to confirm his suspicions before he got anyone's hopes up, "No. Nobody died, and no one's in danger. I think…I need to go see my dad."

He stood up and began making his way out of the room, his mind going a million miles a minute, 'There's just no way!'

He had just finished descending the steps outside the Big House when he heard Will's voice behind him, "Hey, Death Boy! Wait up!"

Nico slowed and waited for him to catch up, "I'm sorry Will. It's just…what I felt. I don't want to say anything until I've spoken to my father about it."

Will pulled a face, "So are you going down to the Underworld? Right now?"

"Yes, I have to."

"Are you sure you shouldn't rest up first? You were training all day today, you must be exhausted! Plus you haven't even eaten dinner yet, at least wait till after dinner?" Will chewed on his lip worriedly, and Nico almost gave in.

"No, I'm sorry but this can't wait. If my suspicions are right, then…" he looked up at Will, "I know you don't like me shadow traveling, but I'm not as weak as I was before. I'll be fine."

Will sighed in frustration, "I know that. I just—you know I don't like it when you use your Underworld-y powers in less than prime conditions. I don't want you pulling a disappearing act again." He shuddered, as if remembering that time when Nico nearly faded away three years ago.

Nico took his hand and gave him a reassuring smile, "Hey, I'll be fine. Trust me. I'll just go talk to my dad for a bit and I'll be back before dinner's over. You can save me a seat and everything."

"Fiiiiiiine," Will pouted, "but you're eating extra healthy tonight, none of that junk food you're so fond of. Doctor's orders!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Nico shook his head and started walking off.

Will yanked him back, "What, you think you're leaving without your good luck kiss?" He grabbed Nico by the back of the neck and placed a quick peck on his lips, "There, now you can go." He nodded in satisfaction.

Nico grinned, "See you later, Doc." Yeah, he'd never get used to having Will Solace around.

He squinted up at the fading sunlight and looked around, noticing a particularly shaded patch of land in the forest. "That should do nicely," he muttered to himself and stepped into the shadows. Immediately, he found himself in the looming halls of the Underworld, 'Feels good to be home.'

He made a short trip to his father's throne room and was pleased to see that Hades was alone and not in a bad mood—it was rare to see his father in a good mood when Persephone wasn't around.

"Hello father," Nico bowed from his waist up when he entered the throne room, "I hope I'm not disturbing you?"

Hades looked down at him, "Nico. I wasn't expecting you today; to what do I owe this visit?"

"I had a question for you. About Leo Valdez."

Hades scowled, "This again? That Valdez kid is more trouble than he's worth."

"Father, please," Nico pressed, "you've refused to answer my questions about him for too long. After what I felt today…I thought I felt him cross into the world of the living."

Hades shifted uneasily in his seat and mumbled to himself, maybe Nico had been wrong about him being in a good mood.

"Lord Hades," he tried pleading in his formal title, Hades seemed to like being addressed as such, "I beg of you. Please, just tell me if he's alive."

Hades huffed angrily, "I swear if I never hear that kid's name again it'll be too soon! Why can't people just die honorably and be done with it? But no, eternity in Elysium isn't good enough for Leo Valdez, he has to go and try to cheat death! To cheat death! What an insult! And then Hephaestus has the gall to ask—"

"So Leo did die? He's in the Underworld?" Nico's spirits dropped, he'd thought….

"Yes and no," Hades rolled his eyes. "Leo Valdez did die and his soul did make it to the Underworld. But then he had to go and inject himself with that wretched Physician's Cure and throw everything off!"

Nico frowned confusedly, "So if he injected himself with the Cure, his body must still be alive…"

"Yes," Hades waved his hands irritably, "his body was alive but his soul was not—this has never happened before, so naturally my judges were in over their heads. They were fighting over his sentence for months! I could have sworn they were going to revolt. And then Hephaestus came to me asking if I could send the soul back to the living world. Just like that! After all the issues with Thanatos and the Doors of Death he actually asks me to release yet another soul from the Underworld!"

"So…did you?" Nico asked tentatively.

"Well, it's not like I had much of a choice, did I? Hephaestus gave this whole speech about how Leo Valdez saved Olympus through his sacrifice and how it wasn't fair that I let my own daughter have a second chance at life…and of course he said this in front of all the gods, so it would have been impossible for me to say no…" Hades then proceed to mutter to himself about "stupid Zeus" and "Persephone taking sides" and something about getting his "conditions" in.

Nico felt dread creeping up his spine, "Conditions?"

"Hmm?" Hades looked up, as if he'd forgotten that Nico was still there, "Well anyways the point is that yes, Leo Valdez's soul has been released from the Underworld."

"And it took you three years to make up your mind?"

Hades frowned, "Three years? No, I released his soul years ago…ah but of course, you wouldn't have known since he's been stuck there…"

"He's stuck? Stuck where?" Nico asked desperately.

"No worries," Hades sat up, as if done with the conversation, "the point is that the boy is alive. I'm sure you'll see him soon enough, once he figures out how to get to Camp Half-Blood…"

"Leo knows where Camp Half-Blood is…"

Hades grinned, as if enjoying a private joke, "Of course he knows. Now, you should get back to dinner, that boyfriend of yours is getting antsy."

Nico flushed, "Wha-you—umm." He'd never quite gotten to telling his dad about Will Solace….

"No worries, son. You could do much worse than a son of Apollo." Hades smiled at him, "Now, off you go!"

Before Nico could react he found himself sitting at his regular spot in the dinner table, "Goods above!" Will dropped his silverware at Nico's sudden appearance, "Nico! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Nico grimaced, "Yeah sorry, Hades sent me back up here with no warning."

"So what did you find out?" Jason spoke up from his spot across the table.

Nico looked around and saw that all of his close friends were sitting around the table: Will, Jason, Piper, Percy, and Annabeth.

He took a deep breath, not quite sure how to break the news to them, "Um…well…" he trailed off, unsure.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can't be that terrible," Piper's voice was soothing as always, he could never keep things to himself when she was around.

"Okay, but before you all go crazy just understand that I know almost nothing, my dad wasn't exactly forthcoming with details…"

"Nico, just tell us—what's up?" said Percy.

Nico looked up, his gaze hovering between Jason and Piper, knowing that they would be the most affected by his news, "It's Leo. He's alive."

"He's what?!" Jason leapt up from his seat. Piper gasped and tears rushed to her eyes. Annabeth clutched at Percy's hand, both sitting there in shock.

"Nico, are you sure? How is that even possible? You said he was dead!" Piper's voice was quavering.

"He was dead," Nico said slowly, "He did die. I wasn't wrong about that. I'm not sure I understand all the details but he was able to administer the Physician's Cure somehow."

"The Physician's Cure? The one you said could bring someone back from the dead?" Will asked interestedly. He hadn't been as close to Leo, but he still looked concerned.

"Yes, it seems as though after the Cure was administered his body came back to life, but his soul was already in the Underworld."

"But if his soul is in the Underworld then how can you say he's alive?" Percy asked quickly.

Nico held his hand up, "I wasn't done. Apparently the judges of the Underworld had issues deciding Leo's fate because his body was brought back to life. My father says that Hephaestus pleaded for him to release Leo's soul from the Underworld. He says he released his soul years ago…"

"But if Leo's soul has been released and if he's alive…" Jason sat down stiffly, "Then where is he? Why hasn't he come back? Why hasn't he contacted us to let us know he's okay?!" he slammed his fists on the table in frustration.

"I don't know," Nico shook his head, "My father said something about Leo being stuck, but he wouldn't tell me anything else. I'm sorry I don't have more information, but all I know is that Leo is alive, somewhere."

"So Leo's stuck somewhere and we have no way to find him?" Piper asked worriedly.

"I don't know if that's necessarily true," Annabeth said slowly, "If Leo's been alive all this time and Nico only felt him now…then perhaps this means Leo's finally become un-stuck…"

Will nodded pensively, "That would make sense, maybe you could only feel Leo's soul when he escaped from wherever he was before."

Nico sighed, unconvinced, "Maybe, probably. Hades said something else…I'm not sure what he meant by it."

"What was it?" Jason asked sharply.

"I'm not sure, he said something about Leo needing to figure out where Camp Half-Blood is…but when I mentioned that Leo knows how to get here Hades just laughed and dismissed me. Maybe it was nothing, I don't know. It just makes me uneasy."

They all shared quiet looks, gods rarely gave straight answers, and they always knew more than they let on.

"Well," Piper said slowly, "what matters is that Leo's alive. I'm sure that, wherever he is, he'll find his way back to us."

Jason nodded and held Piper's hand, "You're right, Pipes. Wherever Leo might have been the past few years, if Nico's sensing him now it must mean he's getting close. Now we just have to wait for 'Commander Toolbelt' to show up."

They all shared a half-hearted laugh at Jason's comment, "Well wherever he is, he better hurry on over here, he has a lot of explaining to do!" Piper set her mouth in a hard line, and Nico was sure that he did not want to in Leo's shoes when he finally did show up.

"Poor guy will be in for the lecture of his life when Piper gets to him!" Will laughed.

"And a hell of an ass-whooping!" Piper added.

Jason smiled and looked out over the horizon, "Wherever you are, Valdez, you better be ready!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Aww snap, I'd hate to get on Piper's bad side! Haha, anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this little insight into the goings-on at Camp Half-Blood. The next chapter will be from Leo's point of view—now that they've gotten out of Ogygia, how are they gonna figure out where to go from there? Mwahaha!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and feel free to review and let me know your thoughts!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: that awkward moment where what you meant to be a really short chapter turns into the longest chapter so far…
> 
> Also, I forgot to mention in the last episode that I really hope you're all okay with a little Solangelo. They're probably my favorite pairing and I would have totally written a solangelo fanfic...if only I could write them well. I'll try to throw some in here and there, who knows, I might start a separate Solangelo story. Maybe. I could be persuaded....
> 
> Lol, anyways, enjoy!

Leo Valdez was one proud mechanic. To think that just a few months ago he'd woken up sitting on the back of this very same dragon with absolutely no idea what his name was or what in the world he was doing was mind-blowing. And now here he was, having rebuilt this dragon, and joined by the world's most beautiful goddess. A goddess, mind you, that had actually, legitimately fallen in love with him. Life really couldn't get any better than this, could it?

He felt Calypso's arms tighten around his waist and smiled to himself, her grip had been tightening progressively ever since they'd flown out of Ogygia. After being stuck in that island for so long, he was sure that Calypso was experiencing some strange emotions. He only hoped that she didn't regret leaving.

Calypso's grip tightened again, painfully, and he heard her stifle a gasp.

"Hey, everything okay Sunshine?" he tried turning to look at her, but she held fast and made it difficult for him to turn.

"I'm fine, just keep flying." Her voice sounded tight, almost pained.

This time, he loosened her arms around his waist and turned fully, concerned, "Calypso, you're white as a sheet! What's wrong?!" He looked at her worriedly, she looked flushed and her eyes were shut tightly, and when he put his hand to her forehead she felt incredibly warm.

She opened her eyes slowly, they were bloodshot and full of unshed tears, "I'll be okay, Leo. Don't worry about me." Her voice was a mere whisper at this point and it looked like she was about to faint.

He whirled around to Festus's command board, trying to get a read on their location to find the nearest place to land; Calypso most definitely did not look well. "Okay, we should be able to land in about ten minutes. Just hang on."

Calypso made a small noise to indicate she'd heard him, then he felt her head rest against his back, "Okay." Her breathing was short and shallow, like she'd just run a marathon at full speed and couldn't quite catch her breath. What in Zeus's name was wrong with her?

The next ten minutes were probably the most stressful ones in Leo's life, Calypso's body temperature continued to rise and her breathing continued to be irregular. When he finally saw land in the distance he almost screamed with relief, he had to get Calypso to land to see what was wrong with her.

"Alright, hold on Sunshine, we're almost there."

He angled Festus downwards and tried to make the landing as smooth as possible. They ended up in an abandoned island somewhere on the south side of Italy, there was nothing but beach going in either direction, but he landed Festus near the coast and hastily carried Calypso down to the sand.

As he laid her down and looked at her fully he grew more worried, she wasn't responding and had grown paler still. There was a sheen of sweat over her—in all the time he'd known Calypso and seen her work for hours he'd never seen the goddess sweat. Did goddesses even have sweat glands? Worried, he retrieved some waterskins that Calypso had packed into their provisions and tried to get her to drink, but she moved her head to the side and refused to drink.

"Calypso," his voice sounded like it was on the verge of breaking, "please tell me what's wrong? How can I help?"

Her eyes opened and her vision seemed to sway before it settled on him, "Leo." Her voice was so soft he had to lean in to hear her, "It's okay. I'd give it up for you any day."

"Give it up? Give what up?! Calypso what did you do?" he asked her desperately, but Calypso's eyes rolled to the back of her head and shut once more, "Calypso? Calypso, please wake up!"

He tried shaking her desperately but she was completely unresponsive. What on Earth did she mean "give it up"? What had Calypso given up for him?

'She can't mean…' he looked at her worriedly and placed his hand on her wrist, trying to feel for a pulse—was she supposed to have a pulse? 'Her life? Is that what she gave up?'' He was so desperate he felt tears prick at his eyes; could Calypso have actually sacrificed herself to get him off that island?

"Calypso, please just answer me! What's happening to you?" was that even his voice? It sounded so desperate, so broken…he collapsed forward and couldn't hold back the sob that came out. After all the time they'd spent working on getting out of the island, was this really how it would end? How could she not tell him that it would hurt her to leave the island? He would have gladly stayed there for her if it meant she could live!

He tried to think of ways to help her, but he had nothing. All his knowledge of machines and mathematics and nothing could help Calypso feel better. Gods, did he feel so useless!

"She won't die today, Leo Valdez."

He sat upwards quickly and looked around wildly. His gaze finally settled on a woman standing a few feet away from him—how had he not seen her before? The woman was incredibly beautiful, and it seemed like the longer he stared at her the more she resembled Calypso. It was almost like she was trying to mimic her features but not quite getting it right.

"Who are you?" he looked more intently at her, "And why do you look like her?"

She smiled, as if she was incredibly amused, "Is that what I look like to you? How sweet!" her voice was on the verge of gushing, "Why, I'm Aphrodite, my dear, the goddess of love."

A goddess? "Do you know what's wrong with her? Can you help her?" he asked desperately, looking back down at Calypso—her breathing only came out in shallow gasps now, and he still couldn't feel her pulse.

"Yes, I know what's wrong with her," the goddess did not elaborate further.

"Well?" he asked sharply, "What is it? How do I heal her?"

She laughed lightly, annoying Leo even further, "There's nothing you can do to heal her, Leo Valdez. She knew exactly what would happen the second she stepped off that island. She made this decision freely."

Calypso chose to be in pain? "Why? Why would she do this?"

"It was the price I demanded," said the goddess, "the price for keeping you alive."

The goddess may as well have punched him in the stomach, "What?"

"There were some issues with your return from the dead, you see," the goddess stepped forward and crouched down in front of Leo, "by the time the Cure was administered your body had been dead too long. You were doomed to die the second you stepped off Ogygia."

"So did Calypso take my place? Is she dying instead?" his voice broke.

"No, Leo Valdez, I am not quite that cruel." The goddess smiled at him and the smile was so similar to Calypso's that his heart wrenched, "I was very moved by your sacrifice to be with Calypso. I do love a tragic ending, but sometimes I like to see a happily ever after."

Leo breathed a bit easier, "So if she's not dying then what's wrong with her? What sacrifice did she make?"

Aphrodite laughed lightly, "Well isn't it obvious? The price to keep you alive was for Calypso to give up part of her own life. She had to give up her immortality for you."

"Her immort—you mean she's becoming mortal?"

"Yes, exactly. It's a difficult process, you know. Calypso was born immortal; she's shedding away her godliness to be with you." The love goddess sighed happily, "Oh isn't it just so romantic? I love a romance full of sacrifices and struggles!"

Leo tried to keep an angry, horrified expression from showing on his face, "So you made Calypso give up her immortality for me? Did I not get a say in this? I wanted to get out of that island but I didn't want her to suffer for it!"

Aphrodite shook her head, "No, you didn't have to know. It was her decision to make, just as you sacrificed your life to be with her she had to make a sacrifice just as great to be with you. There needed to be symmetry in your relationship. Now you two will be bound for all eternity, it's so rare for soulmates to find each other nowadays. It's the perfect fairy-tale romance! Really, I think this is some of my best work!"

"Your best work." Leo's voice was hollow, for a love goddess, he couldn't believe how insensitive she was.

"Oh don't worry, young hero. Like I said, she will not die today. Sure, the process is painful and she'll be out of it for a while, but once it's done you two will be together once more—as equals! Now that you're both mortals you'll be on an even field, you'll be able to have children and grow old together—isn't that what you wanted?"

Leo hesitated, he hadn't quite thought of his and Calypso's future that far in advance, but he could see the logic in Aphrodite's words. Perhaps it would be nice to grow old with Calypso… "I didn't want her to suffer like this." He looked back down at Calypso, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, "I would never want her to feel pain for me."

Aphrodite placed a hand on his shoulder in a gesture that he was sure she meant to be comforting but was simply annoying to Leo, "Oh, dear, that's so sweet. I do love to make these stories interesting. I never expected for yours to turn out quite so good to be perfectly honest. You really surprised me Leo Valdez."

"I aim to please," he mumbled as he continued keeping watch over Calypso.

The goddess stood up, "Well, she should be up and about in a while. It might take her some time to adjust to being mortal, but I wouldn't know since I've never been one…"

Leo stood up hastily, "So there's nothing at all I can do to help her?"

She gave him a smile that almost managed to look sincere, "I'm afraid not…but, well, I suppose I can spare one parting gift." And with that the goddess clapped her hands together and vanished into thin air.

"Hey!" Leo shouted after her, "What parting gift…?"

But when he looked down at his feet he realized what had happened. He was wearing black lace up loafers, slim-fit brown plaid slacks, black suspenders and a white v-neck shirt. 'Is this really her idea of being helpful?' he wondered as he turned back to Calypso.

She was breathtaking.

Aphrodite had dressed Calypso in a simple white sundress that hugged her figure just enough and brown cowboy boots. Her caramel colored hair was down and arranged around her face in loose curls. The sheen of sweat had vanished from her face. She looked like a country princess; clearly, Aphrodite knew Leo was from Texas.

"Well, at least now you just look like sleeping beauty," he murmured as he moved back next to her, "Maybe a kiss will wake you up?" he said hopefully as he laid a gentle kiss on her lips.

She didn't wake, but her brows came together and her body twitched like she'd been punched. He reached for her wrist once more, looking for a pulse, wishing there was something he could do to help. There was still no pulse.

Lew was not entirely sure how long he laid there but the sun was dipping low on the horizon when Calypso stilled and stopped twitching at random intervals. Then, he felt a pulse. Slowly but surely Calypso's pulse started getting stronger, evening out to a stable rhythm.

"Calypso?" he asked gently, hoping that the transition was finally over.

Her eyes fluttered open, "Leo?" She tried to sit up, but her arms gave out on her.

"I'm right here, don't move," he laced his fingers with hers, "how do you feel?"

A tear leaked out from her eyes, it was no longer golden, "It hurts." Gods did she sound broken.

Leo shut his eyes tightly, willing his own frustration away, "What can I do to help?"

She ignored his question, "I'm sorry."

"Hey don't worry about me, just focus on feeling better," because once she was better she would definitely get the full extent of his anger—how could she do this without telling him?!

Her eyes closed once more, "I'm tired."

"Go to sleep, I'll be right here when you wake up."

"Okay."

When Leo woke up the next morning the sun was barely rising from the horizon. He sat up and inspected Calypso closely, her eyes were shut and her breathing was even, it seemed as if she was asleep…hopefully she was no longer in pain. It was only when his stomach made a very unattractive noise that he realized that the last thing either of them had eaten was that hasty breakfast the day before. Reluctant to leave Calypso, he ran over to Festus quickly and retrieved some water, bread, and a couple of apples. It wasn't quite a breakfast of champions but he figured Calypso wouldn't be up for a full breakfast anyways.

After he ate his share of the food he nudged Calypso as gently as he could to wake her. Her eyes opened slowly but they didn't look bloodshot anymore, which was a big plus.

"Hey," he said softly, "good morning Sunshine."

She gave him a slow, sleepy smile, "Hi."

"I brought you some food, you must be hungry."

"Thanks," she made to move and then gave up halfway, "can you help me up?"

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and sat her up as gently as he could, keeping a hand on her lower back when she was in a sitting position. He handed her the water first and she drank it greedily, then he handed her the food he'd brought. She ate slowly, like every bite took an obscene amount of effort, but Leo wasn't satisfied until she had eaten everything.

"How do you feel?" he asked once she swallowed her last bite.

She took a deep breath, "Different. I don't know, I feel…." Her eyes went wide and she pressed a hand to her chest, "Is that…a heartbeat?"

He chuckled, "Yes, Frankenstein, mortals have heartbeats."

"Frankenstein?" she looked at him with that adorable doe-eyed stare.

"It's from a book," he explained, "a doctor named Frankenstein created life from a bunch of dead body parts."

She scrunched up her nose, "That's disgusting."

He laughed, "I didn't say it wasn't."

"But I didn't make a monster, so why call me Frankenstein?"

"Well, nowadays people call the monster Frankenstein."

"How come?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, I guess it got mixed up at some point."

"You modern people are strange."

He grimaced, "Yeah, well, now you're one of them, aren't you?"

She shut her eyes tightly, "Yes, I supposed I am."

"Calypso," he said slowly, trying to keep the anger and the hurt out of his voice, "why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't your choice to make," there was steel in her voice.

"I would have never gotten off that island if I knew it would hurt you," he said, "you should have told me."

She laughed a short, empty laugh, "I know you don't remember them now Leo, but you have so many people that care for you in this world…I could never keep you from them. The way you would talk about your friends before…"

He looked down, unsure of how to refute that argument, "You still should have told me."

"You would have tried to stop me," she said softly, "Leo, it's okay. I've had time to think this over and I don't mind giving up my immortality. I've been alive for millennia, but maybe now that I'm mortal I'll finally have a chance at a real life."

She'd given up his immortality for him, how was he supposed to live up to her expectations? Leo may be a decent mechanic, but what else could he possibly offer her that would make up for sacrificing her godliness? Leo would never be rich or dashingly handsome, he wasn't particularly smart or cultured…heck, he didn't even remember most of his life. The weight of Calypso's sacrifice weighed heavily on him, he could never match it….

"Calypso I don't know that I can carry this burden. I hate knowing that you gave up so much for me. I will never be able to make this up to you."

"Do you want to know how you can make it up to me?" she asked with a grin at the edge of her lips.

He nodded.

"Before, when you came to my island the first time, you told me that one of your life-long dreams was to open up a repair shop." She told him, her eyes misting over as she thought back, "You told me that once you brought me back to the mortal world we'd open up a shop together, Leo and Calypso's Garage…I think I'd like that. I think that would make me happy."

The ghost of a memory came back to him, "Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters," he mumbled.

"Yes," she smiled, "exactly."

"It's not enough," he said.

"It is enough," she said firmly.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, tugging on it lightly to vent some of his frustration, "Do you think you can stand?" he asked her, ready to change the subject.

"I think so, help me up."

He pulled her up with him and kept his arms near her shoulders to steady her if she fell. She swayed dangerously but managed to remain upright.

"Huh," she said, "I fell heavier."

He chuckled, "Well if it makes you feel any better, you don't look any heavier."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Ha-ha." She took a hesitant step forward, then another more confident one, "The world seems dimmer…" she turned and looked straight at the sun, then threw her hands over her face, "Ahh! Why is the sun burning me?"

He couldn't help it, he laughed at her, "What the hell was that? Why would you look straight at the sun, you crazy person?!"

"What? Are mortals not allowed to look upon the sun?" she asked as she blinked her eyes repeatedly, trying to get the spots out of her eyes.

"I don't know about being allowed to look at it, but I know that you're not supposed to look right at it! You could have burned off your retinas or something!"

"What?" she asked with dismay, "So this is how you see things all the time? The lighting is so poor, how you mortals get anything done with this amount of light is beyond my understanding."

"Well I've always thought I looked better in soft lighting anyways," he replied with a smirk, "and I think what you meant to say was us mortals. You're one of us now, Sunshine!"

She shook her head, "I suppose I'll grow used to it…It seems all my senses have been dulled somewhat…"

He looked down, feeling guilty once more, "If it helps, you look more beautiful than ever."

"Well I guess that's something," she said lightly. "Hey, don't start going all mopey on me, Valdez. I didn't sign up for a sad, pathetic mechanic!"

"Oh yeah, well what did you sign up for?" he challenged.

"I don't know, but I remember him muttering something about a Captain McFizzle?"

He laughed, "I think you mean McShizzle."

"Yes, that one," she nodded, "the guy with the stupid jokes that aren't funny."

"What?! My jokes are totally funny! Just you wait; once we start traveling you'll realize that everyone thinks I'm funny except for you."

"That remains to be proven." She turned to the horizon, looking out over the sea, "The world has changed much since I've been imprisoned, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," he said, "pretty much everything has changed…"

"The cities without gardens…are there a lot of them?"

Leo frowned, wondering where she'd heard that from, "In a sense, I guess. Not many modernized places leave room for nature to thrive unchecked."

"That's so sad," she murmured.

"Well it's not all bad," he said, "now we have TV and movies and video games and Hot Cheetos!"

She laughed lightly, "Ah yes, I suppose some sacrifices had to be made to give the world Hot Cheetos."

Upon her mention of sacrifices he winced, he couldn't help it.

"Leo, it was my choice to make. Please don't think you're responsible for this."

But isn't that exactly what he was? "Right, sure." He grinned at her to change the subject once more, "So, off to Malta we go?"

"Are you sure?" she looked surprised for some reason, "Don't you want to get back to Camp Half-Blood and get your memories back?"

Truthfully a part of him did, but he figured he could make this particular sacrifice for her. After all, she'd made plenty of sacrifices for him, "Memories, shmemories! I've got all the memories I need right here with you. We can take our time touring Europe, and when you're sick of it we can get to Camp Half-Blood."

She looked at him and tried to hide her eagerness, "But what about your friends? Don't you want to see them?"

"Well I've been gone for a while, haven't I? And I'm pretty sure they think I'm dead anyways so…I don't think they're expecting me. Plus, I have absolutely no idea where Camp Half-Blood is."

"You told me it was in New York before," she said quizzically, "I've told you this."

"Yeah, you have," he nodded, "but New York is a pretty big state. Not quite Texas-sized, but big enough. That's gonna be a really big area to search… We've been working for so long on Festus, too. I think we deserve a vacation."

"A vacation," she smiled at him, "what a completely modern idea."

He grinned, "Well Sunshine, welcome to the 21st century."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Aww look at Leo making sacrifices for his girl ;)
> 
> So while I know what's going to happen in the next chapter, I haven't decided whether the next chapter will be told from Calypso or Leo's point of view…so feel free to sound off and let me know whose perspective you'd like to read from next!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and please leave me a review letting me know your thoughts. Those always inspire me to write more quickly :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey all! Sorry this one took some time to get out there. I was having some writer's block and decided I wanted to re-read the series for some inspiration. I was also struggling with how exactly I wanted to portray Calypso's backstory, but I think I'm happy with the way it turned out…Anyways, please enjoy!

Calypso didn't quite know what to make of the modern world. She and Leo had arrived in Malta about two hours ago and she still wasn't over her shock.

She winced as she remembered her first reaction upon seeing the busy streets filled with "cars." The second she saw one of those gigantic things coming right at her she screamed bloody murder—after all, now that she was mortal she had a bit more concern for her wellbeing. After calming down the crowds and explaining to everyone that he wasn't a criminal or trying to murder her, Leo had assured her that the "cars" were not monsters but rather a method of transportation, like an upgraded chariot. Calypso decided that the less time she spent inside those speeding contraptions, the better.

They had proceeded to wander the streets of Malta, staying as far away from the roads as they could. Calypso was hoping to find something resembling her birthplace, but so far nothing looked like it once used to. She tried not to let the disappointment show on her face, but she had a feeling Leo had picked up on it already.

"Hey why don't we stop at that café over there and get some lunch?" he pointed at a semi-secluded café at the top of a hill, it had a nice outdoor patio overlooking the port.

"Yes, of course, that would be nice," she tried for a smile, but she wasn't sure how genuine it was.

They were seated promptly and Leo took the liberty of ordering for them, as she had no familiarity with modern foods, "Huh," he said as he looked down at the port, "that's weird, it almost feels like…aaargh!"

Calypso shot up in alarm and put her arms around Leo, who had halfway collapsed off his chair, "Leo, what's wrong?!"

He shuddered and took a deep breath, "Nothing, I'm fine. It's just a headache."

"You're not fine! What happened?" she ran her hand over his face, over his neck, over his arms, making sure that he was okay.

"I said I'm fine!" he pushed her hands off him and sat up fully, "I just had this weird dejavu feeling but it's gone now…" he winced and pressed his hands to his temples, "Well, mostly."

She frowned at him in worry, "Maybe we should get out of here, if you're in pain…"

"No, I'm sure it will pass soon," his smile looked more like a wince, "It's nothing a pretty girl like you can't distract me from."

"Ha-Ha." She deadpanned, still looking over him worriedly.

The waitress brought their food and Leo dug in with gusto, so Calypso decided to dismiss her worry and tried to enjoy her meal—she tasted none of it.

After they were done eating Leo sat back and looked over her, "So, what do you think so far?"

"Of what, Malta?" he nodded, "It's so different…I mean I knew it would be different but I had hoped that I would recognize some small things, but there's nothing at all."

"I'm sorry that you're disappointed," he said emphatically.

She shook her head, "No, It's fine. It's been so long that I really shouldn't be so surprised. It just doesn't feel like home anymore…"

She trailed off, looking down at the port and the city below them, "There's one more place I'd like to check out, there used to be a lot of power there, maybe…it could be the one thing that survived from my time."

Leo nodded and sat up quickly, swooning lightly and clutching his head, "Uhh is it nearby or can we take Festus?"

In all honestly Calypso would have preferred to make the climb up there by foot, but she was worried for Leo's wellbeing, "It's a bit of a climb, we can take Festus up there."

Leo nodded appreciatively and walked off to a secluded patch of woods, he pulled out a large whistle from his toolbelt and blew into it, Calypso winced at the shrill sound, but no one else seemed to hear it. No one else seemed to notice the giant bronze dragon that settled down right in front of Leo either; it had been a while since she experienced first-hand just how powerful the Mist was against mortals.

After directing Leo from atop Festus, they swooped down at the base of an abandoned hillside on the western end of the island. "Up there," she pointed at the top of the hill, Festus had been too large to settle down on top of it, and Calypso was glad for it. It wouldn't feel right to let Festus disturb the land up there, "Are you feeling well enough to make the climb?"

"Yeah," Leo nodded, "whatever that was earlier is gone." He took her hand, "Let's go."

Calypso smiled at him and this time it was genuine, she was glad for his company on this trek especially. The two began to make their way up the hill, which proved to be more difficult than she expected since the path that had previously led up to it had vanished completely. She supposed that no one had been here in a while, and she was glad for it.

When they finally reached the top Calypso pulled up short, overlooking the summit before her. Leo stopped right beside her and looked back and forth between her and the space in front of them.

"Not to be anti-climactic or anything," he said, "but was there supposed to be anything up here?"

She kept her eyes fixed on the summit and spoke softly, "Not something you'd recognize."

She stepped forward lightly, almost afraid of disturbing anything. To the naked eye she supposed the summit looked pretty average—just a field of barren landscape and shrubbery like any other Greek hill. But this one was special, because it was on this hill that Calypso was born. It was on this hill that Calypso had spent countless days and nights, sometimes playing with her siblings, or sitting at the edge of the hill while her mother brushed her hair and sang to her, where she would run to when she needed to escape from her father. Some of the best moments of Calypso's life were lived on this hill…but also some of the worse.

She hadn't realized she'd been crying until she felt Leo's hand around her own, "Hey, are you okay?" he was peering closely at her—she'd been so caught up in the past she had momentarily forgotten he was even here.

"This hillside is my birthplace," she said softly, "I spent most of my life here, before I was imprisoned in Ogygia…"

"Oh," he looked around once more, "so this place must have a lot of memories for you." He looked down at his feet, and Calypso had an inkling that he was thinking of his own missing memory.

"Yes," she pointed to the edge of the hill, "over there is where I would often sit to think...the moon would look so big at night…"

She remembered the last time she sat in that very spot, with the full moon looming above her. The last time she had been here was the night that sealed her fate; it was the night she resolved to support her father in the first Titan War.

"I was never close to my father, you know. I always preferred my mother, she was kind, understanding, peaceful…I often wondered why she loved my father so much. I never thought they complemented each other. He was never nice to her, or loyal, or anything. But she loved him nonetheless."

She waited for Leo to say something, but he merely nodded, letting her vent.

"Growing up under my father's rule was harsh. He was the General of the Titan army, and he expected all his children to excel at fighting and war tactics. He believed that all his children should love battle and bloodshed as much as he did. To be honest I wasn't bad at fighting, but I always loved healing more. I can't tell you how angry he would get; he'd start beating me senseless, yelling all the while that I was too much like my mother…

"The last time I was on this hill my father gathered all his children and all his wives and told us there was a war coming. He told us about Zeus and his gods rallying together to take the Titans' power away. Finally my father's skills were needed, and he required the support of all his children to fight against these upstart gods. A few of my weaker siblings were able to talk themselves out of fighting, but most were eager to join in the fight and serve father. By the end of the day, it was just him, my mother and myself left on this hillside.

"I fully expected my mother to deny his plea to join his army, she wasn't the type of person I could ever picture taking part of a war. But when my father asked for her help she didn't even hesitate, she was ready to die for him, just like that. And then…then he turned to me, his most troublesome, rebellious daughter…"

She shut her eyes tightly and swallowed down the sob that was beginning to rise up her throat, "The way he looked at me that night—I always wanted him to look at me like that. He told me that it didn't matter that I resisted him all those years, it didn't matter that I let my skills go to waste. He said the reason he pushed me so hard is because he saw so much potential in me and that no matter what I decided, he was proud to call me his daughter. Then he put his arms around me and planted a kiss on my forehead for the first time in my life…he told me to take my time to make a decision. He said he would ride to war the next morning with or without me…but that it was his biggest hope that his favorite daughter would ride beside him."

She stopped, her chest felt tight and it was hard to breathe. "Calypso," spoke Leo, "You don't have to—"

"No," she cut him off, "I do. I need you to understand, Leo. I just need someone to understand."

He sighed and gave her one of his half-grins, "Okay."

"After my father left I tried asking my mother why she would support him when she was so peaceful and he'd been so terrible to her…she said that she loved him and that he's my father and had always done what he thought was best for me. And then she left. And I went over to that ledge and I sat down staring at the moon for hours, trying to decide…

"All I ever wanted was for him to accept me, and finally he had…despite how horrid our relationship was, he was still my father and I believed that he loved me. And just like my mother, I still loved him somehow…A daughter's duty is to serve her father, I told myself. So the next morning I rode into battle with him against the Olympians."

Suddenly, she felt Leo's arms around her, and she allowed herself to enjoy his embrace for just a moment before she pulled away, "Calypso, it's okay. You did it because you loved your father…I would never hold that against you."

A laugh, bitter, escaped her; "How about the fact that I was such a fool?" she shook her head, bitter tears welling up in her eyes, "I was a fool to believe he meant anything he said to me that night. He lied to me, he manipulated me and I fell right for it. He never loved me, he cared nothing for me. When the Titans were defeated he sold me out for a lesser punishment for himself. There was no way the gods could have bound me to that island without my father's help—I was too strong for them. He encouraged the gods to channel my mother's own power to bind me to the island—after all, there's no bond stronger than blood. They bound me by spilling her blood on Ogygia's soil and cast that wretched curse on me with its power. If I hadn't been such a fool then perhaps my mother could have been spared, but I fell for my father's trickery so easily!"

"Hey!" Leo waved his hands in her face, "That's not fair, how were you supposed to know? Calypso it's been millennia, you can't blame yourself for this. If anything, blame Atlas for what he did to you! You weren't a fool, you were just trying to make the best out of a shit situation…I mean…Luke, he was your father!"

"Luke?" had she heard him right?

His eyes widened in shock and then he grimaced in embarrassment, "Oh gods, I'm sorry, that slipped out. It was a really, really, really, bad joke that you won't understand until I educate you in modern references, but I'm so sorry, this is the wrong time to be telling jokes."

She couldn't help it, she laughed. This was why she needed Leo in her life. Only he could make such a ridiculous joke out of such a serious conversation, even if she didn't fully understand it, "Only you, Hot Head."

He laughed along with her, "You bet, Sunshine!"

Still shaking her head at Leo's antics she reached down and placed both her hands down on the soil, feeling the ancient magic still humming under the surface. "There's still so much power left over here, I wonder if—"

She gasped, suddenly feeling an influx of power. It seemed that the strange magics recognized her somehow, and she felt some of it channel its way into her. The power felt familiar, safe, almost like…

"What is it?" Leo crouched down in front of her, peering at her closely.

"It's…me," she murmured softly, "I used to practice my sorcery here. I never thought that I had left so much of myself behind…"

"Uhh, how about we pretend I know nothing of ancient magic and have no idea what you're saying?"

"Like I said, I had too much power to be contained in Ogygia. The gods took most of it away when they imprisoned me…it seems some of it found its way back here, since I was so tied to this land. It's really not much, but I suppose it's better than nothing." She willed the power to continue flooding through her and took stock.

Leo hesitated, and took a shallow breath before he spoke, "Is it enough to restore your immortality?" There was a guilty look in his eyes that nearly broke her heart.

"No, nothing close to that," she said, "and even if it was I wouldn't use it. I've already told you Leo, I want to be mortal with you. I won't change my mind about it."

He sighed, as if he expected that answer, "Well then how much is it?"

She smiled at him and stood up straight, "It's more than enough. Now come on, I think this is all I want to see of Malta, where do you want to go next?"

He grinned at her and pulled out his whistle to call for Festus, "Oh I have a few ideas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Woooooo the adventure continues! The next chapter will be in Calypso's POV…I've had the idea for this chapter for a while so I hope it comes out the way I originally envisioned it…but I might have to split it into two chapters, we'll see!
> 
> Anyways, let me know what you think, I really get inspired to write faster when I get plenty of feedback :D
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and leave a review!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: so I guess this little episode is going to take two chapters to get out properly. I tried doing it all in one go, but it's way too long for one chapter, so I guess you will all have to be okay with two shorter chapters! More notes at the bottom, but for now, enjoy!

Leo hadn't been lying when he said he'd had ideas. Two weeks later, Calypso was sure she'd visited more cities and countries than there were stars in the skies, and still Leo insisted that there were so many more to see. Every day brought a new adventure: new sights, new smells, new sounds…it was exhilarating.

"Get down!" came Leo's yell as he ran towards her.

Calypso ducked her head down and covered, already very familiar with what would happen next. 'Three, two, one…' the resounding BOOM! caused Leo to grin wickedly at her as yet another quick invention worked perfectly.

Oh yeah, that was another thing, the monsters. It seemed as though once Calypso got some of her mojo back the monsters started coming in swarms. She supposed it made sense, one demigod traveling with a mortal wasn't enough to attract many monsters, but once you pair a demigod and a mortal with god-ish powers, it wasn't too surprising that monsters showed up.

Calypso still rolled her eyes when she thought back to Leo's reaction to the first swarm of monsters that attacked them. The poor boy had positively freaked when a couple of cyclops attacked them and mimicked his voice. It would seem Leo had no memories of fighting previous monsters, but those Greek battle instincts kicked in soon enough. Leo was quick with his hands and able to rig up bombs and machines that would help them defeat the monsters, and Calypso was no wailing maiden herself.

Just like they had when they built Festus, Leo and Calypso quickly got a feel for each other's abilities and worked together seamlessly. The monsters never stood a chance.

"So, mademoiselle, ready to get out of this stuffy country?" Leo gallantly extended a hand to her as he gestured towards Festus.

She laughed, "Oui s'il vous plait!"

He pulled a face, "And in American that means…?"

"In American that means let's get out of this stuffy country, Hot Head!" she took his hand and climbed aboard Festus.

"Good enough!" he nodded and climbed on behind her.

"Oh but do you think we could see the Eiffel tower one last time before we leave?"

"I suppose you can't deny a girl anything in the city of love," he sighed, acting as if it was sooooo difficult for him to grant her request, but Calypso knew that Leo loved the sight just as much as she did.

She sighed dreamily when they flew by the Eiffel tower one last time; Paris truly was a beautiful city. Sure, there were some smells she could have done without, but overall the city truly was amazing. Leo had told her that Paris was called the "city of love," and she could very much see why. She and Leo had broken into the Eiffel tower after hours, and it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. And when Leo surprised her with roses and a picnic all the way up there…well, suffice to say it was a night full of love.

"We'll come back here, someday," Leo murmured into her ear and then nipped at her earlobe.

She smiled, and turned to see him, "I would love that very much."

He grinned at her, "Well then, it's a done deal!"

And because he looked so wonderful with the Eiffel tower slowly vanishing behind him, she kissed him soundly.

"So, where to next?" she said as she turned forward.

She could almost feel him grinning behind her, "Don't you know, Sunshine? It's a surprise!"

She laughed, "How come I never get to know where we're going?"

"It's not like you'd know anything about it anyways!" he chuckled, "Besides, it's more fun this way, keeps the romance alive and all that good stuff."

"I think Paris was more than enough to keep the romance alive, don't you?" she threw back. Leo made a strange choking sound and when Calypso turned she laughed when she realized his ears were on fire once more. Oh how she loved teasing him! Who'd have thought that the great, funny Leo Valdez would get so flustered about such things?

"Could you—you know what? Just for that I'm not telling you!" he managed to sputter out.

Calypso kept laughing, "Oh no worries, it was worth it!"

He grunted, "Well anyways, we should get there sometime tomorrow morning, you should get some sleep."

She tried to hide her yawn, "But I'm not tired yet…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he murmured as she nonetheless leaned back and he wrapped his arms around her. "You used a lot of magic today, get some rest."

"Mmmhmm…" she was asleep in seconds.

"Hey, Sunshine, wake up!"

"Hmmmghhh…"

"Come onnnnn, you won't wanna miss this sight!" Leo's voice was much too excited for this hour.

Calypso groggily sat up and rubbed her eyes open, cursing Leo under her breath. When her eyesight finally cleared up, however, she sat up alert, "Gods above, it's gorgeous!" she breathed.

Before them was a gorgeous city with a plethora of different buildings from different eras, but the buildings that caught her attention the most were tall, aged, beautiful castles and spires that stood proud despite their obvious age. The city had an aged look about it, like most European cities, but this one had its own charm that set it apart from the rest.

"What's this place called?" she asked eagerly.

"Bienvenidos a Leon, España!" he spread his arms, as if christening the city.

"Espa…Spain? I think I've heard of a Spain."

He laughed, "Yes, Spain. I'm named after this city! Get it? Leo, Leon?"

"I thought you were named after the constellation?"

He furrowed his brow in confusion, "Oh yeah, maybe that was it…but there is something I remember about this city…" he winced and shook his head, "Ah, well. I'm sure it'll come to me. But anyways we're here!"

Calypso placed her palm on his forehead worriedly, she didn't want him to suffer from those migraines that he got whenever he forced himself to remember things. "Are you feeling all right? If you're gonna be in pain we can go somewhere else…"

"Nah, I'm fine! Besides, this is the one country where one of us actually speaks the native language. It'll be fun!" he waved her hands off him and pointed to a nearby hill, "Take us down there, Festus!"

Luckily for them both, the initial headache seemed to be a false alarm, as the remainder of the day brought no more headaches from Leo. Leo talked up several of the young trip advisors and they gave him a list of places every tourist needed to see, plus the locals' best restaurant recommendations. They tacked onto several tour groups and saw the beautiful cathedrals and architecture around the city, and by sunset they were both happily stuffed with some delicious paella.

"Holy Hephaestus, I'll never eat again!" Leo groaned as they walked out of the restaurant.

Calypso giggled, "The locals didn't lie, that was one of the best meals I've ever had!"

"You said it," he nodded, "but just you wait, once you try my enchiladas you'll re-think that!"

"Oh yeah? I'm starting to think you've talked them up so much they're actually going to turn out terrible."

"You take that back this instant, young lady!" he waved a menacing finger at her, "Don't you dare insult the great Leo Valdez's cooking!"

She laughed, "I don't know, I just think—oof!" she stumbled into Leo and clutched her side in pain. Something had struck her, something…was stuck on her.

"Calypso! What—" his eyes widened as his gaze locked onto something past her, "What the hell is that thing?!"

"Ma-manticore!" she managed to gasp out as she managed to lock onto the creature, "it has…" her vision swayed and she lost her balance.

Leo caught her and dragged her out of the manticore's way, "Calypso what's wrong?"

She tried not to wince, but wasn't sure of her success, so she lowered her hands and showed him the spike sticking out of her side, "Poison. Need to. Take. Out." She gasped out, gods this must be some potent stuff.

"What?! Calypso, I can't—"

"You. Have. To." She tried to lock her gaze with him to indicate the urgency, "I'll die. If you—don't."

He gulped and nodded, taking a hold of the spike, "Okay, okay. On three: one, two—" he yanked the spike out before he got to three, Calypso tried to bite back a scream as she felt the spike tear more tissue on its way out.

"I can still smell you, little demigods!" the manticore taunted, and suddenly it jumped out in front of them, "There you are!"

Leo quickly dragged her out of the way as the manticore's tail swept towards them, Calypso tried to help as much as possible, but she felt weak, woozy, and tired.

"Calypso what can we do? How do we kill it?" Leo asked quickly, half-carrying her as he continued to dodge the manticore's deathly scorpion tail.

"Too...strong," she mumbled, "hard to…hurt."

He groaned, "Oh great, this is just great! And Festus can't hear us from this distance…" he glanced around worriedly.

"You have to…leave me behind," she forced out, "I'm slowing you…down…" There was no way Leo could get out alive if he was dragging her everywhere, he needed both his hands to work up a machine and was barely surviving the manticore's attacks with Calypso's dead weight. It was the only way he stood a chance, he had to understand that!

"No way in Hades," he muttered as he once more narrowly evaded the manticore's attacks.

"Aww come on little demigods, at least stand and fight, all this chasing is no fun!" the manticore taunted once more, "I promise I'll kill you nice and quick if you leave me the girl!"

"Hey, ugly, no one asked for your input!" Leo yelled back.

"Leo. Please." There were black spots on her vision, she wouldn't last much longer.

"Just—hold on! I'll figure something out, I just need to think!" he muttered in frustration. "I just need to—"

"Ey, necesitas ayuda?" Calypso heard a male voice call out, she wasn't sure what the man was saying, and her vision was blurring too much for her to find the speaker.

"Can you—Puedes ver el monstruo?!" Leo yelled back urgently.

The man's voice laughed, 'how is he laughing at a time like this?' she wanted to yell.

"Si, hombre!" the man answered, "Es bien feo, no? Trae a la chica para aca!"

She wasn't sure what was going on, but Leo seemed to trust the man enough to hand her to him, "Leo, what—"

He ignored her and turned to the man who was holding her up, "Tienes algo con que matarlo?"

"Pues claro que si! Pero me gustaria ver si tu lo puedes hacer solo!"

Leo looked back at the monster and grinned back at the man, "Mira y aprende, viejo!" he reached into his toolbelt, Calypso wasn't sure what exactly he was doing but it looked to her like his hands were working too fast for the human eye to keep up. Gods, it sucked being a mortal sometimes!

"Nowhere to run now, little demigod!" the manticore was close enough to come in for the kill, but at that moment Leo yelled triumphantly.

"Oh yeah? Well before you eat me, I just have one request: can I hear that ferocious roar one last time?"

The manticore looked confused, but seemed pleased to concede Leo's request, and as it bellowed a giant "ARGHHHHHH!" Leo tossed the small device in his hands straight into the manticore's mouth, "What the—"

The manticore started to ask, but Leo interrupted him with a "Duck!" and the next thing Calypso knew she was thrown to the floor and she felt the earth shake beneath her with yet another giant BOOM!

"Allright! Take that scorpion king!" Leo yelled triumphantly.

"Nicely done," the stranger responded in an accented voice, "that was some pretty quick thinking."

Leo grinned back, "I told you—Calypso!"

He rushed forwards when she collapsed once more, she had tried to stand on her own, but perhaps that hadn't been the best idea.

"What happened to her?" the man asked sharply.

"She got struck by one of the spikes," Leo answered quickly, "She said they were poisoned."

The man frowned, "Okay, I know someplace we can take her where you will both be safe."

Leo nodded eagerly, "Please. Quickly."

Calypso's eyes closed on their own, and she felt herself be hoisted up in Leo's strong arms, "Leo…tell them…ambrosia…" she tried to hang onto consciousness long enough to make sure he understood, "no…not…a demigod…not…goddess…"

"Shhh, don't you worry. I'll take care of you Sunshine. You'll be fine."

And because he sounded so sure, Calypso finally gave into the poison's lure and let herself fade into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: ohhhh noooooooooo! Lol poor Calypso, only a mortal for a couple of weeks and is already about to die! I blame Leo!
> 
> Anyways, just so you all don't complain, a part of me did want to include chapters on all the beautiful cities and adventures the two had in Europe, but the focus of my story will not be those adventures, so I'm sorry that you guys will just have to be satisfied with a bit of a time-hop. It would take way too much time to add in those chapters and I'm sure you're all just as eager as I am to get them to Camp Half-Blood (Besides, I'm sure Piper's lusting for blood by now!)
> 
> Feel free to use your imagination and fill in all those lovely adventures the two had around Europe.
> 
> One of the more vivid adventures that I thought to include was where Leo met up with the nymphs that were in Narcissus's fan club and they attacked him, while the lonely "Team Leo!" nymph tried to defend him—this of course would be all the more hilarious because Leo will have had no memory of the nymphs and Calypso would have been adorably jealous. You can all pretend that happened for the purposes of this story if it helps :P
> 
> Anyways, the remainder of this chapter should hopefully be out by the end of the week. I've yet to name our mysterious Spanish stranger…I have his entire backstory but not a name! Hah, so feel free to throw out some suggestions if you'd like!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and please drop me a line to let me know what you think!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi everyone, I'm back and I'm not dead! I'm sooooo sorry I haven't been able to update in so long, I tore a ligament in my wrist and my hand was in a cast for weeks! Thankfully I'm pretty much fully healed now, so I was able to type this up. Just for being so patient, I gave y'all an extra long chapter. Enjoy!

When Calypso came to, she was lying down in a comfortable bed and covered with so many blankets she was sure she would suffocate. Sluggishly, she tried to sit up but winced at the sharp pain that shot out from her side.

"Ay! No te muevas, mija, te vas a lastimar!" Calypso turned to the voice to find a woman coming into the room with a tray of food. The woman looked to be in her late twenties with curly brown hair and warm brown eyes.

"Who are you? Where am I?" She just hoped the woman could understand English, "Where's Leo?"

"Ehm, slow down," she said with a heavily accented voice, "Leo is with my brother. You are safe." She nodded to herself, as if satisfied that she managed to get that out, "Now you eat," she gestured to the food in the tray she was holding.

Calypso glanced down at the bowl of steaming soup the woman had brought and realized that she was starving, "I won't eat until I see Leo," she said firmly despite her protesting stomach.

The woman rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation, "Ah pues, RAUL!" she bellowed out at a surprising volume.

Calypso's eyes widened in surprise but she soon heard the male voice from before answer back with an equally loud "QUE?"

The woman yelled back at him and Calypso gradually heard the man's voice approaching, and pretty soon she saw the man peek out from the doorway, "Buenos dias señorita!" his smile was friendly and open, and Calypso was about to protest again when she saw Leo peek in from behind him.

"Sunshine! You're awake!" he walked towards her easily, a spring in his step as if they hadn't just narrowly escaped death.

Calypso sighed wearily, she hadn't realized how worried she'd been until she was sure that Leo was safe, "There you are, I can't believe you let me wake up without you here! For all I knew we'd been kidnapped and you were dead in a ditch somewhere!"

Leo laughed, "Aww come on, Irene is awesome, she's been taking good care of you the past couple of days."

"Days?" she said sharply, "What do you mean days?"

At this, the woman, Irene, spoke up, "You got a lot of poison in you, bad stuff. Leo said I can't use ambrosia on you so the healing was slow."

"You didn't use unicorn draught?" she questioned the woman.

Irene frowned, "I'm no healer. I used what I had."

Calypso nodded, sure, the unicorn draught would have worked much quicker, but she supposed she could just be glad she was alive, "It doesn't matter, thank you for your help."

The woman nodded gruffly and gestured to the food she was still holding, "Now eat."

Calypso took the offered plate and began sipping on the soup idly, turning her attention to Raul. He looked to be a few years younger than Irene, but the two looked so similar it was clear they were related somehow. "So what's your story? You could see the monster…so are you a demigod?"

The guy smiled and spoke in his accented voice, "My name is Raul. This is my sister, Irene. We are both children of Vulcano."

"So we're, like, sort-of siblings," Leo chipped in.

Raul grinned at Leo, "So I'm your sort-of big brother."

Leo laughed and turned to Calypso eagerly, "You should see their forge, Sunshine, it's awesome! They have all these really cool high-tech machines that are giving me all sorts of ideas! Oh and you should see Raul's motorcycle it's epic! And Irene has this car that she built that can turn invisible!"

Calypso gave him a half-smile, "Don't start getting any crazy ideas…" but she could see that it was too late.

"I was thinking I could do some modifications on Festus to see if we can try that invisibility thing, Raul and I were just downstairs taking a look at Festus. He has all these ideas of how we can modify Festus and turn him into the ultimate war machine!" his hands were twitching with that restless energy of his and his eyes darting about wildly. She hadn't seen him this excited in a while.

…so was it wrong that she didn't want him to make any modifications to Festus? She supposed it was a little selfish, but…Festus was their thing, they built that together to escape from Ogygia, and she couldn't help the pang of hurt that he was so willing to change it at a moment's notice.

"That sounds great, Leo," her tongue felt like lead when she said it, "I can't wait to see what you two do."

"Oh it's not just us too, Irene is helping too! You should see the weapons she makes; they're killer—get it?"

She smiled tightly and took another spoonful of soup to disguise it, "Mmhmm."

He kept speaking animatedly, "Oh and guess what their front for the mortals is? They have a tattoo shop! A tattoo shop! I always wanted a tattoo since as far back as I remember, which, granted, isn't much, but if I can still remember that after all the memory I did lose, then imagine how badly I've been wanting one! But of course, I couldn't get it since you have to be eighteen to get a tattoo in the States but guess what? I am eighteen now! So guess who's getting a tattoo?!"

Calyspo glanced wearily at Raul and Irene, both of whose arms were completely covered in tattoos, "Uhhm…just one tattoo?" she asked carefully.

Leo followed her gaze and snorted in an entirely unattractive manner, "Oh don't worry, I'm not quite ready for a full sleeve just yet."

"Right," she said warily, "yet…"

He smiled cheekily at her, "Nothing crazy, I swear."

She finally caved; she never could resist that boyish smile of his, "If you say so, Hot Head."

He pecked her lips swiftly and sat up, "So are you done gorging yourself yet? I've been waiting for you to wake up to get my ink. You took forever to wake up!"

She chuckled and rolled her eyes, "Oh well, excuse me for taking a poisonous dart to my side, I didn't realize it would inconvenience you."

Leo nodded haughtily as he helped her up, "Apology accepted."

"Are you two lovers done being gross?" Raul walked up to them and took Calypso's arm easily to help her walk.

"I don't know what you're talking about. We're never gross," answered Leo.

Irene rolled her eyes at them and led the way down the hallway at a brisk pace, Calypso tried to keep up as best she could, but found that she was tiring quickly as she was still recovering.

"Ey, hermanita, mas lento para la porbre niña!" Raul called out to his sister, who glanced back, huffed, and slowed her pace down slightly. "Excuse my sister; she forgets sometimes that people are not machines."

Calypso nodded, not at all surprised at Irene's gruff behavior, if anything she was more surprised at Raul's friendliness. With the exception of Leo, every child of Hephaestus (or Vulcan) that she had met was much the same as Irene, gruff, frank, and frustrated with human frailty.

The two boys kept an ongoing dialogue between them as they walked down to the tattoo shop, both eagerly pointing out machines and tools strewn about that made absolutely no sense to Calypso but seemed fascinating to the two boys. She couldn't help but observe a little jealously how easily the two boys got along, and even Irene seemed to chat with the boys easily about their ideas for new machines and improvements. Leo tried to bring her into the discussion several times, but when she just looked at him blankly and had nothing to contribute to the conversation he seemed to remember himself and turned back to Irene and Raul. That…stung…she wasn't used to sharing Leo's attention like this…

"Here we are!" Raul's voice chipped in suddenly, and Calypso snapped back to attention, "You sure you're ready for this little brother? It's only forever."

Leo laughed heartily, "Ehh I figure I'll die pretty young anyways, who cares?"

'Umm I do!' thought Calypso as she glanced at Leo out the side of her eye.

"How about the pain? You better not cry like a little baby," Irene joined in on the teasing.

Leo's Adam's apple bobbed, but his voice was even when he stated bravely, "What pain? I feel no pain!"

The siblings chuckled as they led the way into the small shop. Calypso looked around at the walls that were completely covered in artwork and sketches…some more gruesome than others. She turned to Leo with worry after seeing a particularly disturbing tattoo of a fat pig being strangled by a lasso.

"Uhm, Leo…what exactly are you planning on tattooing on your perfectly fine body for the rest of eternity?"

He grinned, picking out the gruesome artwork she'd been looking at, "What, you don't think it suits my personality?"

"Well you do have pig-like table manners but I'm not sure the lasso is your style," she quipped.

"You wound me, mi amor," he placed a hand over his chest dramatically. Calypso tried not to let the fact that the Spanish slipped out so easily get to her, "Nah, I think I'm going for something a little bit more…Leo Valdez son of Hephaestus."

She wasn't quite sure what that meant, but so long as it had nothing to do with pigs and those creepy skulls she had a feeling she could possibly be okay with it.

"Oh, and by the way, you really think my body is perfect?" asked Leo as he moved to sit on the chair Raul pointed to.

She rolled her eyes, "No, I said it was perfectly fine."

He laughed, "Oh yeah, I'm fine as hell, aren't I?" he said it in that tone that implied that there was another meaning to the phrase that had changed with the times. She would never get the hang of modern vernacular.

"Alright, Leo Valdez," Irene said his name with her Spanish accent and Calypso jealously wished she could pronounce it like that, "where do you want it?"

Leo grinned at Calypso and spoke to Irene in Spanish, knowing all the while that Calypso wouldn't understand. 'Prick.'

After discussing with detail and gesturing to his left arm for a few minutes Irene seemed to understand what exactly Leo wanted, and she laid his arm down and began setting up her machine. When she was finally done setting everything up she held up a needle that was much too big for Calypso's liking and inquired one last time, "Last chance to wimp out, Valdez."

"Do your worst," Leo dramatically laid his arm down and glanced upwards in what Calypso could only guess was a silent prayer to Hephaestus.

Raul laughed at his theatrics, "You sure you're a Hephaestus kid? You're way too dramatic, maybe you're a son of Venus."

"Oh yeah—" but whatever Leo was going to say was cut off in a sudden gasp as Irene had begun to tattoo the inside of Leo's left bicep, "Jesus a little warning next time!" his face was screwed up in a grimace but to his credit he did not cry out.

"Oh stop twitching," Irene said as she kept digging into Leo's arm with that terribly sharp needle. It looked to Calypso like Leo was sitting as still as he could, she doubted he could control the small spasms of his arm at this point.

Nonetheless Leo did progressively stop his involuntary movements, though the occasional wince managed to break through every now and then. Raul kept up a steady conversation about machines and improvements to Festus that Calypso had absolutely no hope of following, so she merely looked around the tattoo parlor for some time and chimed into the conversation at odd intervals.

After about an hour, when it was becoming clear that Leo wasn't going to put up with the needle much longer, Irene sat up and proclaimed that Leo's tattoo was finally done, looking extremely pleased with her work.

Leo immediately jumped up and stood in front of the nearby mirror, looking over the finished work with awe, "Oh sweet, this is seriously the coolest thing ever!" he turned to Calypso eagerly and flexed his muscles and wiggled his eyebrows as he said, "You like?"

Calypso stepped closer to inspect the piece on his arm: it was located on the inside of his left bicep and looked like the cogs of a machine, with pistons and other mechanical looking things in the background. Overall, the tattoo had the effect that one was peeking through the skin to make it seem like everything underneath was just a machine. Very fitting for a son of Hephaestus, "I love it," she said honestly, "it's very you."

Leo smiled at her, and there was that wild look in his eye that he had every time he was particularly excited about something. That same wild look that Calypso had fallen in love with all those years ago, "Thanks, Sunshine."

Later that night, Calypso found herself in the kitchen at what she guessed must be the very early morning hours. She'd sneaked out of her and Leo's room after waking up from a strange dream and had sneaked off to get some water for something to do. As she sat in the kitchen quietly, she was suddenly startled by the sound of someone clearing their throat and looked up to find a very awake-looking Raul standing in the doorway.

"Hey," his voice was muted, as if he didn't want to disturb anyone else in the house.

"Hi," she echoed back in the same hushed tone.

"May I?" he indicated to the chair opposite Calypso and she nodded her assent, "We haven't really gotten the chance to talk one-on-one yet."

Calypso had to admit she was a little bit surprised, she didn't think Raul would care whether he talked to her or not, "I guess not, is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"There's something that's been bothering me…" he began slowly, and Calypso waved her hand to encourage him to continue, "your name…Calypso…I've heard it before."

Calypso stilled, she knew that the Titans had been defeated when they tried to rise again, but the War had only happened a few years ago, it wasn't unlikely that there was still bad blood between Titans and demi-gods. Especially in regards to Roman children who weren't even directly involved in the matters.

"Yes, I'm sure you have. Leo said it's some kind of Caribbean music," she tried for a smile, but it was half-hearted.

He mirrored her half-smile, as if acknowledging that that was exactly what someone like Leo would say, "Of course. But I get the feeling you weren't named after Caribbean music, were you?"

Calypso sighed, there was no way around it to be perfectly honest, "No…no I wasn't."

"I know I'm technically a Roman, but even I have read the Odyssey. It says that Odysseus spent years on an island with a woman named Calypso."

"Yes, I'm sure it does."

Raul leaned forward slightly, "So was it you?"

"…Yes." She said slowly, it had been ages since anyone asked after Odysseus, "It was me."

Raul sat back slowly, as if processing the information, "So that would make you…how old?"

"I'm not quite sure," she said, "time flowed differently in Ogygia. I suppose at least a few millennia."

"Hmm, a few," he mumbled to himself as he peered closely at her, "but you were put on that island by the gods, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"As punishment?"

"…Yes."

"For what?" he pressed, now looking frustrated at Calypso's reluctant answers.

She sighed, "Look it was a long time ago, okay? Yes, I am the Calypso that I'm sure you've read about. Yes, I'm thousands of years old, and yes I'm the daughter of Atlas. I supported him in the first Titan war and the gods stuck me on that island cursed and forgotten for millennia as my punishment. But if you think for one second that I still support my father or that I mean Leo any harm then—"

"Woah, slow down," Raul waved his hands in a placating gesture, "no need to get so worked up."

She expelled the breath in her lungs and tried to quell her anger, "Then why are you asking about this?"

"Well to be honest I was a little worried, but it was mostly curiosity," he said lightly, still looking at her like he was waiting for her to explode once more.

"Look, I know demigods generally don't have a good opinion on the Titans and for good reason, but I don't mean anyone any harm. I was never a warrior, and I never supported my father for his ideals, he was my father."

Raul nodded slowly, but it seemed he accepted her explanation, "What about Leo? I'm guessing his memory loss had something to do with getting you out of that island? I won't let you use him like that."

Calypso shot up like a bullet, "How dare you? I would never use Leo like that! I love him! The only reason he lost his memory is because of Gaea!" 'And, well, technically, I guess he did make the promise to come back to me so he had to die and lose his memory, but it's not like I asked him to!' but Raul wasn't going to get any of that information if he was going to keep assuming the worst about her.

"Keep your voice down," he whispered harshly, and Calypso sank down into her chair with a huff, "Look I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that you're some evil monster. It's just that I can tell Leo really cares about you, you should have seen him while you were out, the poor kid couldn't even eat because he was so worried about you. I'm sure that he'd give up his life for you many times over, I just want to make sure you understand that. Leo is a good guy, there's not too many like him out there."

All the anger left in Calypso evaporated in a flash, maybe Raul did understand more than he let on. "He was…was he really that bad?"

Raul grinned, "The kid clearly can't function without you."

"But…but I thought you'd been working on Festus and showing him machines the whole time I was out?" she tried not to let her previous jealousy show through her tone.

Raul didn't seem to pick up on it, but rolled his eyes nonetheless, "Yeah, we tried, but the kid was fumbling around like a son of the anti-machine god. I swear he almost blew up my whole shop, he was so pathetic."

Calypso giggled, she couldn't help but feel glad that Leo was more affected than he'd let on. Typical.

"Look, there's another reason I wanted to talk to you," Raul spoke hesitantly, a grimace on his face as if what he was about to say was particularly uncomfortable.

"What is it?"

"I'm not too sure about all this, I'm no son of Apollo, but…there was a prophesy delivered unto our family a while back."

"A prophesy?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure…at this point it's probably more legend than fact. It's been passed down my family for generations, and to be honest I'd completely forgotten it until I met Leo the other day."

Calypso felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge, "What does it say?"

Raul looked away and scratched the back of his head in an obvious sign of discomfort, "Well my family has been here since the ancient Romans set up a command post in this city, and the prophesy has been around since then. But you see, my family has always gravitated more towards machines and technologies…not pretty words and stories…"

"Meaning?"

"Well no one ever really remembered what the exact words of the prophesy were, but I think we preserved the general gist of it."

Calypso tried not to groan in frustration, prophesies were hard enough to interpret as it is, but without the exact wording they were almost impossible. It may not even be worth listening to the prophesy, as she was sure it would cause more harm than good at this point.

"All I know is that it was prophesied that a son of Hephaestus would come to us on a golden dragon, and that it would be our job to lend him aid. And to advise him that when the time comes his life will not be enough…he has to make the greatest sacrifice a son of Hephaestus could ever make."

Calypso frowned, "But Leo has already sacrificed his life before, what sacrifice could be greater than that?"

Raul shrugged, "I'm not sure, that's all I know."

Suddenly it was too much, already Leo had lost and sacrificed so much…were the Fates so cruel that they would demand some kind of impossible penance of him once more? 'Yes,' she thought bitterly, 'of course they would.'

Raul sighed, "I'm sorry I had to tell you, but I figured Leo has enough on his plate with no memories of his past. Can I trust you to tell him when the time is right?"

Calypso sighed, "Of course, I'll tell him." She rose from the table, "I should go get some more sleep before sunrise."

He nodded, "Right, goodnight."

The next morning found Leo and Calypso having breakfast with the siblings, both Calypso and Raul acting as if nothing was amiss.

"Well guys, I hate to leave, but I think it's about time that me and Calypso get going," Leo announced at the end of the meal.

"So soon?" Calypso was honestly surprised; she'd thought Leo was immensely enjoying his time with the siblings.

"Yeah, I think it's time we start heading to New York. I've been having these weird dreams lately, and my skin's been itching for home, whatever that is. Plus," he looked at Raul and Irene out the side of his eyes and lowered his voice so only Calypso would hear, "I think it's about time I really took care of you. You deserve a new home, Sunshine."

Calypso tried to keep the cheesy smile off her face; she really did, "But what about all the modifications to Festus? Weren't you going to make him invisible or something?"

He chuckled and glanced over at Raul and Irene, who were looking at them with knowing smiles, "Yeah well, I figure we can make it to New York without being invisible. And I mean, Irene and Raul are great at what they do, but they're impossible to work with. I think I'll stick with you for my next project."

She couldn't help it; she threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly.

"Eww get a room, you two!" Irene groaned loudly, but Raul's laugher cancelled it out.

Two hours later, Calypso found herself atop Festus, having recently packed up several of Irene and Raul's handy machines and weapons that they insisted they take on their trip. After assuring them that they would keep in touch, Calypso had climbed up onto Festus's back, with Leo climbing up behind her.

Just as they were about to take off, Raul called out, "Hey, Leo!"

Leo turned, and Raul called out something in Spanish that Calypso couldn't quite catch, "Cuida a esa. Es la mejor cosa que vas a encontrar en esta vida. Que nunca se te olvide que no hay nada mas fuerte que lo que tienen ustedes dos."

Leo nodded solemnly, "Of course. Thank you, both of you, for everything."

The siblings waved eagerly as Festus spread his wings out and took flight.

After the two were out of sight and Leon, Spain was becoming nothing more than a speck in the horizon Calypso finally turned back to Leo, "What did he say to you?"

Leo grinned at her, "Don't you worry about it."

"So where to next?"

"Aww don't you know, Sunshine? It's a surprise!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Woot! We're finally done with Europe! That took foreverrrrr.
> 
> Hahah, I'm sorry that I had to give Leo a tattoo, but I think I needed him to have it because it will become very ironic at the end of the story (mwahaha secrets). If you want a rough picture of what the tattoo looks like in my brain I'll post a link on my profile. Also, I didn't make a big deal out of the pain thing because honestly I have a couple of tattoos and they really don't hurt. If you think they hurt then you're a pansy ;) [I say this with love, of course]
> 
> As for the next chapter, I'm warning you now that it will feel completely out of left field. It will be written from the point of view of another of my favorite characters, and to be perfectly honest it's a passage from a story that I'm thinking about writing. SO basically I'm going to try it out on you guys and if you all like it I can go ahead and start writing that story separately. I just want to make sure people like the idea before I run with it. (so sorry but no Leo and Calypso in this next one)
> 
> Anyways, 50 points to Slytherin for whomever can guess who the next character is!
> 
> Get psyched for Camp Half-Blood, it's coming soon! (though not in the next chapter, oops #sorrynotsorry)
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and please drop me a line to let me know your thoughts (and thank me for this ridiculously long chapter)


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: aww man, y'all are some lucky readers. Two long chapters in less than 24 hours! Don't get used to this pace!
> 
> Anyways, just a quick reminder that I did warn that this chapter was going to come a bit from left field, but this story idea has been haunting me for a while, so I figured I'd get it out there so you can all tell me what you think. There's not a lot of Reyna fanfic (poor girl) so I could be persuaded into writing one, but only if I know people are really interested. So anyways, read on, and let me know your thoughts!

You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart.

That had been so many years ago, and still the words haunted her... Reyna sighed as she looked around the crowded coffee shop. It was a warm and beautiful day in Old San Juan, she almost felt that the gods were mocking her with this perfect weather.

After years of putting it off and trying to convince herself that everything was fine and she did not need to come back to her homeland once more, Reyna finally relented. She could no longer deny the constant pull she felt towards Puerto Rico, the need to see it one last time…the need to lay all her ghosts to rest once and for all.

She wasn't quite sure what she was waiting on, but she couldn't bring herself to walk the two blocks over to her old home just yet. She had arrived to San Juan earlier that morning and had spent plenty of time visiting some of her and Hylla's favorite childhood haunts—it was late afternoon and she had told herself that she'd duck into the coffee shop for a quick meal before she headed out. That had been over an hour ago. She could tell people were noticing by the slightly irritated glance the waitress kept throwing her way—the place was packed with summer tourists and she was sure they needed her table, but she reasoned that she had bigger problems than pissing off some customers.

Reyna was once again getting lost in her thoughts when a voice suddenly interrupted her, "Umm…permiso, me puedo sentar…?" she looked up to see a guy in his mid-twenties gesturing towards the seat in front of her, his voice was heavily accented, he was clearly an American.

"Yes, go ahead," she nodded to the seat, a little uncomfortable due to the fact that it was a small table meant for couples. She wasn't used to people being this close.

The guy set down his leather satchel at the foot of the table and sat down with ease, flashing her a friendly smile; he had green eyes and messy dark brown hair. He was dressed in khakis, with a sweater thrown over his button-up shirt, he had his sleeves rolled up and ink stains all over his hands. He looked every bit like a young, frenzied professor.

"Thanks, everywhere else is taken." He extended his hand, "My name's Remus."

"Reyna," she shook his hand and quirked and eyebrow at him, "Remus as in—"

"Yeah, yeah," he interrupted with an eye roll, "Remus as in the Harry Potter character."

Reyna chuckled, she'd never really had time to read those oh so famous books, "I meant to say Remus as in brother of Romulus." I mean, come on, she was a Roman! And names like that were a big deal to Romans.

Remus perked up at her comment, looking genuinely surprised, "Wow, no one's ever picked up on that. I feel like no one appreciates ancient mythology anymore."

Reyna smiled mysteriously, she could think of just a few people that appreciated ancient mythology, "I guess you could say I've always found the subject fascinating."

"Really?" he leaned forward eagerly, "Do you know a lot about Classical history and mythology?"

"You could say that," she grinned. When had she started grinning at people?

He looked strangely at her, as if he was trying to decide whether she was pulling his leg or not, "What's your favorite classical figure then?"

"Diocletian," she said with certainty, waiting for him to give her a horrified stare. According to Hazel, he was painted as a bit of a villain in mortal history books.

Remus laughed, "Of all people you pick Diocletian? Interesting, how come?"

"His parents were slaves; he worked his way up from nothing to become Emperor. Yes, he might have been a bit vicious towards the Christians, but he was a good ruler overall. Plus he was the first emperor to retire peacefully. I think he was a great example of Roman virtue."

Remus stared at her silently for a few seconds, "You really do know your stuff, huh?" he smiled at her once more and Reyna tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach, "You know I think I read somewhere that there was a legend that he was a son of Jupiter."

"How interesting."

"…but I have a feeling you already knew that."

She smiled, "Most likely."

"Multum scis auguror?" ah, so he knew Latin, then?

"Recte vos divinamus."

He looked at her silently once more, and it stretched out long enough that Reyna was beginning to get uncomfortable. She opened her mouth to say something when he spoke again, extending his hand out to her once more, "Hi, I'm Remus and you're perfect. Will you marry me?"

Gods above was she blushing? Never in her entire life had she actually felt her face turn red. What kind of person says things like that? Clearly, she hadn't spent any time around mortals, and for good reason! For Olympus's sake she was a praetor, she was supposed to be treated with respect and reverence—no one ever tried to flirt with her like—well like this!

Remus laughed heartily at her obvious discomfort, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he chuckled once more, "I swear I'm not always so forward."

She rolled her eyes at him in exasperation, but couldn't help the reluctant smile that slipped out, "I'm sure" she said with sarcasm.

"You're not like other girls, are you?" he asked.

"Well I definitely don't get marriage proposals on the daily, so I suppose not."

He laughed and waived off her sarcasm, "Okay, fair enough. So what are you doing in San Juan?"

She tried not to let her face slip into a frown, "I grew up here."

"Nice! It must have been awesome to grow up in such a nice place."

"…it was interesting." She conceded, "What are you doing here?"

"Me? I'm researching, for my doctorate," he wiggled his ink-stained fingers at her. "I've been stuck in my hotel room for days trying to finish up this thesis I'm working on."

"What are you getting a doctorate on?"

He grinned, "Isn't it obvious? Classics!"

A part of Reyna was fascinated, she didn't realize mortals still pursued PhDs in something as outdated as the ancient Greek and Roman cultures. "But then why are you researching in Puerto Rico?"

There was a spark of eagerness in his eyes, "It's actually pretty interesting. I've been pursuing this theory for a few years now that there are several key families that migrated from Rome to the Western hemisphere. You see, Rome took over much of the ancient world, so of course they have roots and influences all over the place. But there are legends that suggest that back then, some families were favored by the gods, sometimes for generations and generations!"

Reyna stared at him wide-eyed, how much did this guy know? "So do you believe in the ancient gods?" she asked with a bit more force than she intended.

Remus chuckled, "No, of course not! I'm just saying what all the legends seem to suggest."

"So you think there's one of those families in San Juan?"

"Yes, exactly!" his voice came out rushed and excited, "I think I've finally figured it out. I've been tracing this bloodline for almost a year, but all my sources indicate that the trail ends here. I even found an address and everything! I just came here to get a coffee and still my nerves before I went knocking on their door. I wonder if they even know how far back their roots go?"

A family of Roman decent in San Juan? She hated to break it to the guy, but there were no Romans in Puerto Rico, no one of Roman decent except for… "Say—what's the name of this family?"

"Oh, right, you're from here, so you might know them, right?" he said eagerly, "Their family name is Ramírez-Arellano, do you know them?"

Reyna shut her eyes tightly and breathed out, 'Of course.' "Yes, I know them."

"Great!" Remus looked about ready to bounce off his seat, "Do you think you could introduce me? It would mean so much to me. I can't wait to prove to everyone that my theory was right!"

Well, in all fairness, his theory was right, and Reyna had been meaning to go out to the old house anyways…She might as well take him. If anything, she figured he was so determined he'd go there with or without her.

"Sure, let's go." She pushed her chair back and gathered her things about her, fastening Athena's aegis (which she always carried with her) around her shoulders. Remus looked at it strangely, and Reyna realized she'd never found out what it would look like to mortals through The Mist…for all she knew it was a fuzzy sweater with bunny ears. But he seemed to shrug it off and stood up after her, eagerly leading the way out of the coffee shop.

Reyna hadn't realized how long they'd been in the shop, the sun was already beginning to dip low into the horizon. She just hoped they wouldn't be stuck in the house for too long, the darkness tended to encourage the lares to come out, and it's not like she had Nico around to tell them to leave them be.

They walked down the street at a relatively sharp pace, but if Remus had any issues with it he kept silent. The more familiar the territory became and the closer they got to the house, the more nervous Reyna grew. Much too soon, Reyna's childhood home stood looming in front of them; the paint was chipped and the plant life was outgrown and wild, but it still had those tall, proud arches that suggested old money had once lived there.

"This is it." Reyna said as she pulled up right in front of the doorway, "The Ramírez-Arellano residence."

"Wow," Remus's voice was muted as he inspected the state of the house, "it's a beautiful home. It looks like no one has been here in years though…"

She turned to him, feeling a bit sorry to see him go so soon, "I'm sorry, I should have told you. The Ramírez-Arellano's haven't lived here for years." It wasn't exactly a lie, so she didn't feel too guilty about it.

He sighed in disappointment, "Has anyone else lived here since?"

"No, the house has been abandoned," she said firmly.

He glanced back up at the house and looked up and down the street; it was oddly empty for this hour. "Well in that case…" he grinned at her and before she knew it had grabbed a hold of the doorhandle and pushed it open, "come on, before someone sees us!" he whispered frantically at her as he waved her inside.

Not wanting to be recognized by any of her old neighbors, Reyna didn't see another alternative but to step inside the house after Remus. "What do you think you're doing? You're trespassing on private property, you need to get out of here!" she hadn't thought the guy would actually break into her childhood home!

"Oh, come on! Where's your sense of adventure? Besides you said so yourself, no one lives here, and no one saw us come in. We'll be fine!" he waved off her objections as he stepped further into the house, looking up at the high ceilings with their opaque skylights.

Something twisted in Reyna's chest as she watched this relatively unknown person look around her home with so much interest, "Remus, I really don't think this is a good idea…"

"Don't worry, I know some self-defense," he winked at her.

'Hah!' she thought, 'as if you would ever need to defend me!' the mere thought of it made her roll her eyes.

"Not big on decorations, were they?" Remus muttered as he looked at the stark white walls, "Holy sweet Jesus Christ, is that Imperial Gold?!" he'd spotted an old spatha lying about and picked it up with reverence, "This thing must be thousands of years old, and it's just lying here like it's nothing! This belongs in a museum! And it's in such good state too, Reyna do you see this?" he held up the weapon eagerly, "I wonder if anyone would notice it was missing…." He murmured to himself.

"You should take it, they won't notice," she said curtly, "now we should really get out—"

But he had already found something else to distract him, "Oh, man, look! A pila! They have so many ancient weapons here. This must be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. How could they just leave these lying about? Do you know what some collectors would pay for this?" He held up the spear, "This looks like it must be from the late Bronze Age, but this, this must be from the early second century A.D., see the markings on the side? That fashion was very popular at the time."

She was sure that had she not been so nervous she would have found his fascinated ramblings incredibly endearing, but Reyna had just caught a glance out the window and saw that the sun had finally set; it wouldn't be long now until the lares came out. While Remus would be safe from the ghosts (mortals couldn't even see them), she knew very well that they could attack her and he could be caught in the crossfire. Furthermore, as praetor, it was sort of her duty to keep mortals safe from these sorts of things…

"Remus, please—"

"Wait this makes no sense," he interrupted her once more as he picked something out of the pile of weapons, "this looks like it must have been from the early 19th century, it's much too new to be amongst these."

Reyna's blood ran cold, no, he couldn't have—but he did. There in his blissfully unaware hands, Remus was holding Pirate Confresí's saber. The very one Reyna had used to murder her own father. It was too much.

"Remus," she said firmly as she snatched the saber from his hand, "We have to go. Now."

Remus finally stopped his excited treasure hunt and looked at her with wide eyes, most likely shocked by Reyna's sudden frankness. "Reyna I'm sorry if I upset you, we can leave if you're really that uncomfortable."

She wanted to say something to assure him that she wasn't truly upset at him, but it would have to wait until they were safely outside of the house. "Come on," she turned to face the door and froze as she heard a much too familiar voice from behind her.

"Where are you going, mija?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuun! As I said before, this chapter may seem a bit off left field, but I've really been wanting to write a story about Reyna but don't want to do so if there's no interest. So if you guys like the idea let me know, this chapter is just a little scene from it that I had thought up.
> 
> Leo and Calypso will make a stunning appearance in the next chapter, so don't think I just threw this in here for kicks! (Well, I sort of did, but it ties back, I swear!)
> 
> Anyways, please let me know what you think, I hope to have the next chapter out by the end of the week, but we'll see.
> 
> Also GET EXCITED because Leo and Calypso will finally get to Camp Half-Blood by Chapter 17. I promise. (Okay, maybe Chapter 18, but most likely 17).
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and drop me a line to let me know your thoughts!
> 
> ******I swear reviews make me write soo much faster. Y'all get me pumped to write when you tell me nice things :D


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I've decided that I really need to stop making you guys promises on when the next chapter is going to be published, it seems to inspire my professors to give me more homework -_- hah, sorry for the wait guys, but if it makes it any better, I already have 75% of the next chapter typed up! :)
> 
> Also, THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! It's the most reviews I've gotten on a chapter so far, so I'm guessing you all really liked the Reyna/Remus pitch! :)

"Where are you going, mija?"

Reyna froze, 'No, it couldn't be….' And yet the voice spoke once more.

"I asked you a question, girl." His voice was firm, unforgiving. Like a general barking out orders to a subordinate. She'd heard that tone often, towards the end.

She turned slowly, dreading the sight that was coming, and yet, there was steel in her spine, isn't this what she'd been hoping for? One last chance to tell him she was sorry?

And all at once she was staring into the eyes of her father. She had inherited his dark eyes, and now they held her gaze firmly, with anger, "You come back into my home and dare to pick up that weapon again?"

Her hand tightened around the sabre, she'd forgotten she was holding it, but now she was glad for it, "I thought you were gone."

"I was. Then I came back. For you, mija." He held her gaze evenly, an intimidation tactic. How many times had she used that on others to get what she wanted? She learned how to lead from his example…

"Reyna?" Remus's voice startled her out of her thoughts, "Umm…who are you talking to?" his voice was hesitant, unsure. He must think her insane.

Her gaze never wavered away from her father when she spoke to Remus, "You should go."

"Reyna." His voice was a bit sharper, "What are you talking to?"

Now her eyes snapped to him, searching his, but his gaze was focused somewhere else. He was looking at…. "Remus." He didn't look away, "Remus," he looked to her, "what do you see?"

His face was somewhat pale, "I think I see a ghost, Reyna." He looked at her father quickly and turned back to her, his eyes pleading, "But that's not possible, right? Reyna, I must be dreaming. This isn't possible. Reyna, tell me this isn't possible."

It really wasn't possible. He was a mortal, and sure she'd heard there were a few clear-sighted mortals like Rachel Elizabeth Dare, but they were always, always girls! Never had she heard of a clear-sighted male!

She opened her mouth to try and come up with an explanation, but her father's laughter interrupted her, "Really, mija!" He laughed once more, "You come back into my home and you dare to bring a boy? This is how you treat your late father?"

Remus's face got paler, if that was even possible, "Your father? Reyna what the hell is going on?"

What the hell was going on? She tried to speak once more when she was interrupted again, "Well didn't she tell you boy? She came here to ask her father for forgiveness."

"Forgiveness for what?" Remus asked, but this time her father stayed silent. He turned to her, "Forgiveness for what, Reyna?"

"Forgiveness for killing my father." Her voice was even. She should have never brought Remus here. She was a fool for thinking this encounter would go well.

"You-…you killed your father?" his voice was softer this time, defeated. She'd let him down, "Why?"

She looked at her father when she spoke. "Because it got to the point where he wasn't my father anymore," she tried to put the steel back in her voice, but she heard it break, "he was just a ghost of a person. An angry spirit."

"An arai," Remus mumbled to himself, "but that's…"

"That's enough talking!" her father's voice was suddenly loud, booming in the stillness of her old home. "You better take her advice and run, boy, before I kill you along with her!"

Then her father charged.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Leo Valdez was having a really bad day. Sure, he'd sounded pretty brave when he promised Calypso they'd be going straight to New York, but in hindsight, he should have probably checked a weather map or something. But of course, he'd been in such a hurry to show off and be gallant that he'd completely forgotten even the most basic things.

Creak. Creeeeek. Creakkk. Sparks emitted out of Festus's control panel. He slammed his hand over it quickly to prevent any sparks from hitting Calypso.

"Leo I can't hold them off much longer," Calypso's voice was strained.

The flight from Spain to New York should have been a pretty straight shot, but when you combine demigods with a ginormous Franken-Strom and add in some plain old bad luck you got their situation. They'd made it halfway across the Atlantic when a huge storm forced them to veer south. Then, the monsters started showing up from above and below. Leo had tried his best to help fight them off, but the most he could do was throw wrenches at them. Calypso had been forced to hold them off while he figured out an escape plan for them. Festus had taken some pretty bad hits, which had forced them to veer even further south to follow the favorable winds to keep them aloft.

He fiddled with the command board once more, "Almost there….YES!" he whooped, "Calypso look over there, land ahoy!" He pressed another button on Festus's command board. He'd been saving this final trick for when they reached land, to give them some time to recuperate and regroup.

Flames shot out of Festus's jaw, and Leo felt the dragon's engine grind to a halt. That final blast had taken all of Festus's juice, but it had gotten rid of all the monsters chasing them. Thankfully they were low enough to the ground that all Leo had to do was grab Calypso and jump onto the sandy beach to shield them from any harm. Festus plopped down on the sand a couple dozen yards away.

"Oh look, for once you didn't blow something up when you landed," Calypso muttered tiredly.

He grinned at her, "See? I'm getting better every day!"

She tried glaring at him, but he could see the smile tugging at the end of her lips, "Whatever you say, Flame Boy."

He chuckled, "Okay how about we go find somewhere to eat and then you can rest up while I fix Festus? He should be ready go to in a few hours."

Calypso sighed tiredly, "That sounds lov—"

Her gaze snapped towards the city at the edge of the beach, "Sunshine? What is it?" he peered at her worriedly.

"Something's wrong."

He looked towards the city with apprehension, "What is it, monsters?"

She shook her head, "No. No monsters, but someone's in trouble. They need help. I can feel it." She started walking towards the houses clumped at the edge, her pace quickening with each step, "Come on, we have to help!"

"Woah, Calypso hold on!" he rushed after her, "Are you sure about this? You must be exhausted, what if it's dangerous?"

She stopped running then, and waited for him to catch up, "Well then it's a good thing I have you around, isn't it, Leo Valdez?" And then she smiled that dazzling smile of hers and kissed him soundly. "Now come on, they need us!"

Leo stared after her dazedly for a minute before he snapped back into focus and ran after her.

'I swear she'll be the end of me.'  
___________________________________________________________________________________________

"In here!" Reyna ran into her room and dragged Remus behind her. She shut the door, but knew the effort was useless, her father would find them soon enough. "Keep quiet!"

Remus was panting from the exertion, but the sound of his breathing lessened somewhat. "Oh, Christ, I can't believe this is happening." He muttered to himself, running his hands up his face and tugging at his mop of brown hair.

Guilt clawed its way into her chest, "Remus I'm so sorry, I should have never brought you here."

He took a deep breath and removed his hands from his head, "Okay. Okay. Can you please just—just try to explain what's happening. Just something to convince me I'm not completely insane." His voice was calm, but his eyes were wide and wild, searching for explanations that she wasn't sure she could give him.

"Remus," she began slowly, "all those legends you've studied, all the myths about Roman gods and Greek heroes…they're all true."

His breath came out in a hiss, "What do you mean they're true?"

"I mean that Jupiter, Aphrodite, Aeneas, Hercules….they're real. All of them."

"They're…real."

"Yes."

He chuckled half-heartedly, "But that—that's impossible. We would know. We have science, and history, and—"

"Remus," she cut him off, trying to be as gentle as she could, "I'm sorry I can't explain this better. Usually when I explain this to people they can believe it easily because it's already in their blood…but you're clear sighted. Haven't you ever seen something you just couldn't explain?"

He looked at her, and then his gaze flickered to the cloak tied around her shoulders, "Not until today. Not until I saw you put that cloak on. It…glows."

Her gaze dropped to the aegis around her shoulders, but she didn't see any sort of glow coming from it. Then again, sometimes clear sighted mortals saw more than demigods…

"Wait. What do you mean that it's in their blood? You can't mean…" his eyes widened, and a strange spark lit up in his eyes, "Demigods? Reyna, is that what you mean? Are there demigods walking this world, still?"

He'd made the connection quicker than she thought, "Yes, Remus."

His brow furrowed, "I mean not that I'm fully convinced that I'm not being Punk'd or anything, but if what you're saying is true…" his eyes widened, "Wait, that ghost said he was your father."

"Yes."

"And he said this was his home."

She sighed in resignation, "Yes."

"So that means…your last name is Ramirez-Arellano…isn't it?"

"Yes."

"So then you're under the patronage of some god, right?"

She grimaced, "Not really. In a way."

He furrowed his brow, "I don't understand. Why wouldn't your patron protect you?"

"Because gods are not in the habit of interfering with their children's affairs."

"Right of course, that was in some old legends."

She said nothing; he would understand her meaning soon enough.

"Wait." His voice was sharp, "Their children?"

She shut her eyes tightly, "Yes."

She could feel him tensing up, "Reyna…who are your parents?"

"That ghost down there was my father. He was a mortal, just like you. But my mother… is the Roman goddess of war, Bellona."

He said nothing.

"Remus?" he was staring blankly at her.

"Remus!" she tried again.

But her voice must have gotten too loud because at that moment she heard the door get blasted open and all at once the temperature in the room dropped, "Really, running away like a little girl? I taught you better than that!"

She pushed Remus out of the way as chairs and lamps started flying their way. While her father couldn't physically touch things he was doing a hell of a job trying to cause her harm. Gripping her hand tightly over the sabre she still held, she braced herself for the worst.

"Remus, come on!" she wasn't sure what was going through the boy's head, but he didn't resist her when she grabbed his hand and charged right at her father, all the while swinging the sabre wildly.

Her father's form dissolved as she ran past him, and she ran down to the main foyer once more.

"You know that can't keep me away for too long!" her father's voice boomed from somewhere behind her, "You can't kill what's already dead, girl!"

'This is hopeless!' she thought as she dashed down the stairs, Remus following along behind her, 'We have to get out of here!' she tried making a mad dash for the door, but her father's spirit was already there, blocking the way.

His laugh was mad, his eyes wild and hungry. "I'm done with this stupid game, girl. Send a prayer to your mother; tell her that the legacy of Rome ends today!"

Reyna's breath caught in her throat. Her father had somehow managed to create some kind of windstorm around him, and all the discarded weapons that had been left in their house began to get caught up in it. This would not end well.

"Remus," she said sharply and tugged on his hand, "you have to go. Now."

But he wasn't even looking at her, his eyes were glued to the flying weapons, dread and disbelief showing in his face.

"Remus, Remus!" gods above the boy was obviously in shock. She tried shaking him, "Remus, snap out of it!"

His gaze turned to her much too slowly, "What…?"

"Leave. Now."

"But you're…" he trailed off again and his gaze travelled back to her father.

"Remus, please!" an edge was starting to creep onto her voice. If he didn't leave soon he would die, she couldn't let an innocent person die because of her foolishness!

And so, in her desperation to snap him out of it, she did the only thing she could think of at the moment. She kissed him.

A shock of electricity went through her, and she was sure Remus felt it too because he jolted the second she placed her lips to his. She began to pull back immediately, but all at once Remus's hands were cupping her face and pulling her to him. He kissed her deeply, roughly, and before she could process anything it was over.

They were both panting and Reyna's hands were still tingling from that current. But there were more pressing things at the moment, "There's a door out back, go through there! All he wants is me, he won't go after you. Now go!" she pointed at the hallway and shoved him for good measure, and this time he seemed to get the memo, because he started moving.

She turned her back on him and prepared to face her father. This was it.

'Mother,' she prayed silently, 'give me strength.'

"My daughter," her father's voice was mocking, "hanging around with a coward like that. No wonder Rome's legacy will die with you."

"Rome has stood for millennia," she said calmly, "Rome will not fall today, and it will live on forever."

If those were her last words, she would be absolutely fine with it. She braced herself for the worst. As if feeling her resolution, her father began his assault. Weapon after weapon was hurtled in her direction. She did her best dodging them, knocking them away with the sabre as often as she could, and yet every time she knocked one down another one followed at a maddeningly fast pace. It wasn't long until she got the first scratch on her arm, another on her leg, one on her shoulder….

It was when she took a step back to dodge a flying knife that she realized her mistake. She'd hit a wall. She was cornered. Her father's maddened laugh told her he knew it as well.

The spear came hurtling at her in slow motion, it seemed, and yet she couldn't will herself to move away. All she could do was watch it come straight at her with a morbid fascination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: AGHHHHH! Reyna, duck!
> 
> Hahahaha sorry, I like to talk to my characters sometimes ;)
> 
> Anyways, I really did intend to finish this whole encounter in one chapter, but when it got to be twice as long as all the other chapters I decided it was time to split it in half. It should be out soon. Pinky promise!
> 
> to everyone that liked the story prompt, thank you! I will definitely keep your comments in mind and will start a story of Reyna and Remus up once this one is finished (so I'm sorry but you'll have to wait a while!)
> 
> Anyways, as always thank you SO much for reading and for all your positive reviews. Please don't hesitate to drop me a line and let me know your thoughts. Next chapter shouldn't take too long to come out.
> 
> Love you all!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey all! Sorry for the cliffie in that last chapter, I had to do it to ya ;)
> 
> Thanks to all those of you who reviewed, I'm sure you're more than ready to find out what happens, so read on and I'll leave you a note at the end!

The spear came hurtling at her in slow motion, it seemed, and yet she couldn't will herself to move away. All she could do was watch it come straight at her with a morbid fascination.

And then she felt someone tackle her from the side.

"Ughh!" she groaned, she'd landed on one of her fresh cuts, "What…?"

"Duck!" Remus yanked her down by her aegis and wrapped it around them. Whatever had been hurtled at them seemed to hit him, but nothing pierced through the fabric. But how had he known it would hold….?

"What in Hades's name are you doing?!"

He grinned at her, actually grinned! "What's it look like I'm doing? I'm saving you!"

"Saving—" another object seemed to hit Remus in the back, he winced, but still the aegis proved impenetrable. "Remus I told you to get away! You might get hurt!"

"Look, I'm sorry that I was being dumb earlier, but I'm not just gonna let the most amazing girl I've ever met get murdered while I run away like some coward!"

Is it wrong that some small part of her was flattered? "You don't even know me! I'm not worth dying for, Remus. Please-!"

"Are you done hiding under a blanket like a child?" her father's voice taunted. "Come on, mija, don't shame me even more than you already have."

"Reyna you don't have to listen to him."

She shook her head as she rose, letting the aegis fall around her shoulders, "He's right, this is not how the Ramirez-Arellano fight their battles."

"Reyna…" Remus stood by her, and while his voice was apprehensive, his stance held firm.

"Father," she looked at his spirit now, trying to find the kind person that had once lulled her to sleep, told her old legends, held her when she was sad. "I never meant to kill you, it was a mistake. I thought you had killed Hylla and I thought you meant to kill me as well. I didn't know I would take your life from you when I wielded this sabre." She gripped her hand tightly around it now, "But if I had to do it all over again I would still do it. You weren't human anymore, you were just rage and anger. Hylla and I did nothing but love you and you rewarded us with fear and pain. So kill me if you must, but know that while I am sorry I did it, I would carry that burden with me for eternity if it meant Hylla and I could be free from you."

Her father scoffed, "So be it."

All the weapons swirling around them seemed to freeze, all pointing straight at her. Remus took her hand. She locked eyes with her father, unafraid. He smirked, and the weapons began flying at her all at once.

Reyna braced herself for the worst, but suddenly, the weapons veered straight to Reyna's left, all flocking together in a gigantic pile, almost like…

"Aww yea, did you see that, Sunshine? The Leo Magnet 5000 is a total success!" a boy's voice rang out.

"Too bad we can't say the same for your 'ladies' magnet'" a female voice fired back sarcastically.

The boy laughed, and a shiver ran down Reyna's spine, "Well it seemed to work just fine on you, didn't it?"

At this point the boy and the girl had walked around the oversized magnet and came into view. There was no mistaking it, it was him.

"Valdez?!" Leo turned to her, a confused look on his face, "How-?!"

"And just who the hell do you think you are?!"

Reyna whipped her head back to her father, he looked so angry that Reyna could physically feel it. The temperature in the room dropped once more, she could see frost clawing its way up the windows.

But the girl next to Leo walked up to the spirit calmly, "That's enough out of you," she said gently, and then she placed her hand right on her father's chest, where his heart would be.

Her father gasped as if someone had punched him in the stomach. And then the room felt warmer, the leftover gusts stilled, the tension left his face. He breathed out evenly, and looked upon the girl with wonder, "What…?"

"You poor soul," she spoke, "you've been angry for much too long. It's time to realize your mistakes and let go."

The girl's palm seemed to glow as she continued to hold it over her father's heart. Reyna wasn't sure what was going on, but when the girl stepped back and her father smiled for the first time in over a decade, she realized she didn't really care.

She took a step forward, "Father?"

His eyes were warm when he looked upon her this time, "Mi Reynita!" there were tears in his eyes, "Look at you, so beautiful and all grown up. You look just like your mother…What did I do to you?"

"Papi?" her voice broke, her vision blurred…was she crying?

"I'm so sorry, mija. I was so lost, and I took it out on you and your sister. Could you ever forgive me for what I did to you?"

"Forgive you? But I was the one who—"

He shook his head, "No, mija, that wasn't your fault. You were scared, you were defending yourself. It's okay, Reyna. I forgive you."

"Father," she took a step forward, wanting to embrace him but knowing she couldn't, "Thank you. Thank you for understanding."

His figure began to blur, "It's time for me to go, mija. Tell your sister I'm sorry, and that I love her. I love you, mija. No matter what, you're my Reynita, you got that?"

She nodded, consciously keeping her tears at bay, "I love you, papi."

He smiled one last time before his figure vanished into the darkness.

Reyna released a breath, she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so free.

"Hey, you okay?" she felt Remus place a hand on her shoulder and she discreetly wiped her tears away before she turned to face him.

"Yes," she said firmly, "I feel better than I've felt in a long time."

Remus smiled at her, "Well I can't say I understand what exactly just happened, but I'm glad you're alright."

She smiled back, "I'm not sure I do either…speaking of—Valdez!"

She whirled around to find Leo, only to realize he was kneeling on the floor trying to revive the girl, "Come on, please wake up, Sunshine! Please!" his voice was worried and streined, had Leo ever sounded that serious before…?

"What happened? Did she faint?" Remus asked worriedly as he kneeled down in front of Leo, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Reyna kneeled down as well, reaching into her pockets, and taking out her emergency stash of ambrosia, "Remus help me prop her mouth open, I've got some ambrosia for her—"

"NO!" Leo yanked Calypso back violently when Reyna tried putting the square of ambrosia in the girl's mouth.

"Valdez, what are you doing?!" Reyna snapped impatiently, "She's a demigod, it's ambrosia, it'll heal her!"

"Look I don't know who the hell you are or how you know my name, but she's not a demigod, that stuff could kill her!" his voice was sharp, defensive.

"What do you mean you don't know who I am?" Sure, they'd only met a couple of times, but she wasn't that forgettable!

"I mean I don't—" the girl in his arms stirred. "Sunshine, hey! Are you okay?" his voice, previously loud and sharp was tender when he addressed the girl.

The girl sat up slowly, Leo's hands supporting her the entire time, "I'm fine, sorry. Just overexerted myself."

He rubbed her back gently, "You need to stop collapsing on me, three times was plenty, trust me."

The girl laughed weakly, but when she looked up she addressed Reyna, "Your father will go to the Underworld now, where he will be judged accordingly. I cleansed his soul from the madness; the judges should be fair in their ruling."

Reyna nodded, "Thank you. I can't tell you what that means to me."

"Everyone should get a chance to clear things up with their parents," there was a bitter tint to her smile.

As if sensitive to the girl's tone, Leo swiftly changed the subject, "So, how do you know me then?"

Reyna opened her mouth to answer, but it was the girl who spoke, "She does know you. That's Reyna. She's a praetor from Camp Jupiter."

"How…?" Now Reyna was extremely confused, because she was sure she'd never seen this girl in her life. The girl was extremely beautiful, with long caramel-colored hair and almond eyes. There was a godly aura around her that just screamed power, and yet she still seemed so small, and gentle. Reyna was sure she could never forget a girl like this.

"I lost my memories." Leo's voice was muted, "I can't remember anything before a few months ago."

"A few months ago? Then what…where were you the last three years? We thought you were dead! We held a funeral for you! Piper couldn't make it more than a minute without sobbing, and Jason—"

"I said I don't remember anything, okay?" Leo's voice was sharp, and he was clutching his head, looking pained. "Just stop talking. Please."

Reyna cut off in surprise, 'What in Jupiter's name…?'

"It's a long story, but when he tries to remember the past it hurts him. Please, don't bring it up again." Now it was the girl lending Leo her support, but Leo seemed to shake off his ailment swiftly enough.

"Soooo am I supposed to know you too?" Leo was looking at Remus now.

"Oh, no. I'm Remus." He extended his hand, Leo shook it, "I kinda just found out about the whole Greek and Roman gods are real thing." His voice was surprisingly calm for the proclamation.

"Cool," Leo grinned, "so who's your daddy?"

Remus paled, "What? No, I didn't mean that—I'm not a demigod or anything. Just a normal human…"

Leo stuck his tongue out, "That sucks. My dad's Hephaestus, in case you couldn't tell," he pointed vaguely at the giant magnet behind him.

This time it was Remus who grinned, "Sweet! So does that mean you inherit your parent's powers? Can you control fire too?"

In response, Leo lit his hand on fire, "Check it!"

"That's sick!" Remus inspected Leo's hand closely, "It doesn't burn you?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt show and tell," said Reyna, "but Leo, we need to tell your friends at Camp Half-Blood that you're okay. I know you don't remember them, but they care about you, and maybe we can find a way to get your memories back."

Leo nodded, "Well actually, we were on our way to New York when we ran into some weather and monster related issues, that's how we ended up here."

"Where were you coming from?"

"Europe, of course!"

Reyna's eyes widened, "What in the world were you doing in Europe?! It's too dangerous out there for demigods in a group, much less a lonely demigod with no memories!"

"Well I wasn't alone, exactly…" Leo rubbed the back of his head as his eyes settled on the girl, "I had someone to help keep me alive."

The girl snorted, "Yeah, thank the gods."

It was Remus who spoke up this time, "Wait so if you're not a demigod…that means you're a mortal like me! So how come you were able to make your hand glow and heal that ghost? Does that mean mortals have powers too?"

The girl's face dropped, "Umm not exactly. You see, I may be a mortal now, but…" She looked to Leo for reassurance, and he took her hand and nodded to her, "I was born a goddess."

Remus seemed to stop breathing, "You're a goddess?!"

"Well, not technically, not anymore…" the girl frowned, "I gave up my immortality."

"Why would you ever do something like that?" Remus's eyes were bulging out of their sockets as he looked upon the girl.

But she just looked at her and Leo's intertwined hands and spoke softly, "There are things more important than eternal life."

"What is your name?" Reyna asked as gently as she could, to think that a goddess would give up her immortality for Leo Valdez…it was astounding. All Reyna remembered of the boy was his cheesy jokes and idiotic mumblings, but this wasn't the same foolish boy she'd met all those years ago. This was a young man who, though still lighthearted and generally jovial, seemed wise, caring, affectionate. This wasn't the Leo Valdez that vanished years ago.

"My name is Calypso."

'Calypso…of course,' thought Reyna, 'I think Hazel mentioned something about that. About being glad that Leo got to know someone who cared for him before he died. But now…did he give up all that time just to find her…?'

"Wait…Calypso as in…Calypso, Calypso?" Remus asked eagerly.

The girl looked to Leo with a lost expression on her face.

"Yes, Remus," Reyna spoke up for the girl, "This is Calypso, daughter of Atlas. Once cursed to remain in the Island of Ogygia. But no more, it seems."

Remus stared at the young girl with wide eyes, "Holy…you look so young though. That's just. Wow."

Calypso smiled at him, but said nothing further on the matter.

"So Reyna…" began Leo, "you wouldn't happen to know how to get to Camp Half-Blood, would you? All we know is that it's in New York…"

Reyna nodded and began to stand up, "Of course, I can give you the coordinates. I'm assuming you've been traveling on that bronze dragon of yours?"

"You guys ride DRAGONS?!" came Remus's expected reply. Calypso giggled.

"You mean Festus? Yeah, he's out by the beach somewhere. He needs some repairs but I should have him ready to go in a couple of hours."

"Very well, you should get started."

A couple of hours later found Reyna sitting down on the beach next to Calypso while she finished eating their late dinner. Reyna had volunteered to go out and get food for everyone after Leo insisted that Calypso lay down and rest for a while. Meanwhile, Remus was excitedly learning everything he could about Festus from Leo, the boys seemed to get along swimmingly once they discovered their shared love for Transformers and how they could incorporate cool tricks in to Festus's hard drive.

"He seems like a nice young man," Calypso was the first to break the easy silence between the girls.

Reyna swallowed her food before answering, "I suppose he is, I've only just met him earlier today."

"Really?" Calypso turned back to look at the boys, a thoughtful expression on her face, "I find that hard to believe. You two seem so bonded already…"

"I'd imagine sharing a near death situation can bring people closer together."

Calypso shook her head, "No, it's not just that…there's something else. My powers aren't what they once were, but I can still feel certain things."

This time Reyna leaned forward, "What do you mean? What things?"

"It's hard to explain. But you two are bonded somehow. This is not the last you two will see of each other by a long shot." She looked at Remus thoughtfully one more time, "There's something about him…something more than normal."

Reyna nodded, "He can see through The Mist. It's a rare ability for a mortal, rarer still for males."

"Not just rare, Reyna," Calypso spoke, "impossible. I was once a sorceress, I know much about the workings of The Mist. Mortal males were never meant to see through it. The fact that he can see through The Mist isn't just coincidence or luck, there's something else at work here. There's power in him, I just can't—" she breathed out a sigh of frustration, "I can't put my finger on it. If I had my full powers I probably could but…"

"Is he dangerous?" Reyna asked.

"No," she shook her head, "Not dangerous. Not to us at least."

Reyna nodded, "Well then that's all that matters for now. Everything else we will figure out eventually."

"Hey, girls!" Leo's voice called out a dozen yards away, "Festus is ready to go, you two ready?"

Reyna nodded as she stood up and helped Calypso up to her feet, the girl put on a brave show, but Reyna could tell she still hadn't fully recovered. "Yes, we're ready. How long will it take you to get there?"

Leo fiddled with the dragon's command board as he input the coordinates Reyna had given him, "We should be there sometime tomorrow around late afternoon. We could fly through the night but I want to make sure Calypso fully recovers before we get to camp. We'll find a hotel once we get stateside and stay the night."

"Leo you don't have to—" Calypso began to protest, but Leo's pointed glare cut her off, "Thank you." She smiled shyly at him. Reyna almost rolled her eyes at their obvious affection for each other. Leo Valdez in love. It was still too strange.

Reyna nodded, "Very well. I should be arriving at noon tomorrow. That will give us plenty of time to discuss the War Games before your arrival throws everyone for a loop. It's quite fortuitous that you'll be arriving tomorrow, on the anniversary of your death."

Leo shuddered at her words, but nodded nonetheless, "Right. I would appreciate it if you would…you know…keep quiet about all this?"

"Of course," Reyna nodded, "I'll leave it to you to give all the explanations. I'll be eager to hear the full story myself, to be honest."

He nodded. "Thank you. It means a lot, Reyna, really."

'When did Leo Valdez get so levelheaded and diplomatic?' Reyna wondered, but when he saw him gently help Calypso up Fetus's back, she had her answer, 'I really must get to know this girl better.' If she had that effect on Leo Valdez, Reyna was curious to see how she would affect everyone else at Camp.

"Remus, it was nice meeting you," Leo and Remus shook hands with grins on their faces, "I'll be seeing you around. Maybe Sunshine and I will come visit you in Jersey sometime, it's not too far from Camp."

Remus grinned, "That would be awesome, you can feel free to pimp out my PS4 while you're at it."

Leo laughed as he climbed onto Festus, "Bet! It'll be the best gaming console in the world. And I'll kick your ass in every game!"

Remus laughed, "We'll see about that!"

Reyna shook her head hopelessly; those two together could only mean trouble.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Leo Valdez. Safe travels!" she spoke.

"Peace!" yelled Leo.

"Goodbye! See you soon!" Calypso waved at them as Festus's wings spread and propelled them upwards with a strong thrust of his wings.

"Aww man! That's sick." Remus exclaimed as he watched the golden dragon vanish into the horizon, "So now what? You take a plane to New York?"

Reyna chuckled amusedly, "A plane? No, I have a pegasus."

"Get out! You're pulling my leg!"

"Would you like to meet him?" at Remus's curious expression she turned and whistled loudly, signaling for her trusty companion to come to her. The beautiful creature appeared quickly from the skies.

"Oh my god," Remus exclaimed excitedly, "Holy—They're actually real!"

Reyna just laughed as she watched Guido make his descent towards them.

But this time Remus grabbed her hand and spun her towards him, "Reyna, I know you have to go, but please…promise me this isn't the last time we'll see each other. There's still so much I want to know about you and your world…."

Reyna smiled as she laced her fingers through his, "Yes, I imagine you still have a lot of questions. It would be rude of me to leave them unanswered. After all, you did save my life today."

A smile broke on his face, his green eyes sparkling, "That's right, and you're gonna pay me back by telling me all you know!" his cheeks reddened slightly, "Maybe over dinner, sometime?"

Reyna looked away to hide her blush, "Yes, I think that would be fine."

Remus squeezed her hand in acknowledgement, "So when Calypso said you were praetor…did she actually mean…?"

"Yes."

"So that means you're pretty freaking important."

She laughed, "In a way."

"You're amazing Reyna Ramirez-Arellano."

"Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano." She liked the way her name sounded when he spoke it.

He chuckled, "Of course, can't forget the eagle." He scoffed, "Romans."

She grinned at him and pointed at the pegasus waiting patiently, "So would you like a quick ride before I leave?"

The smile that broke over Remus's face was positively radiant, "Hell yes!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well I hope you all enjoyed the Remus/Reyna arc, this will most likely be the last of it you'll see in this story. Unless I decide to write an epilogue….maybe. I could be convinced….
> 
> For the record, Avila means eagle in Spanish, just in case anyone was confused about that (clever, clever, Mr. Rick!)
> 
> Also, as for the Jersey thing, Remus is obviously getting his PhD at Princeton, since it has one of the best Classics PhD programs in the nation :D (he's a smart kid)
> 
> Anyways, please please please let me know all your thoughts on this story line, like I said, I'm willing to pursue it once this story is done. I already drafted a version of this little episode but from Remus's point of view, I think I like being inside his head ;)
> 
> And now….for the big announcement, drumroll please….
> 
> LEO GETS TO CAMP HALF-BLOOD IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!
> 
> It's also written from another character's viewpoint, one that I haven't used yet. 50 points to Slytherin for whomever can figure it out first!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and feel free to drop me a line and let me know your thoughts! Love you all!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Thanks so much for reading, i meant to put this up yesterday but, oh well. lol
> 
> haha 10 points to DarkMeadows for trying to guess, I'll award 25 to Tabatha Creevey because it was your second choice ;)
> 
> and also calmAnarchist, I'm glad you approve :D

"Right, so dinner should start around 6:00, and after that we'll have the celebratory bonfire to mark the beginning of the War Games. Everything should be ready to go to start the first battle at 9:00." Annabeth was speaking firmly as she read from the clipboard in front of her, "Any questions?" she asked as she looked up to the crowd in front of them.

Piper, along with everyone else, shook her head in response. All the cabin heads from Camp Half-Blood and leaders from New Rome had been holed up in the Big House for about four hours; you didn't need to be a child of Aphrodite to sense that everyone in the room was ready to get out.

Annabeth nodded and smiled at the group, "Alright then, I guess we have some downtime before everything gets started!"

The assembled group immediately burst into conversation, everyone began speaking animatedly and making their way out the door in unison. Piper was about to chase after Hazel to catch up with her and Frank when she noticed Reyna still sitting with a peculiar expression on her face.

"Reyna…" she said as she approached the girl, "are you okay?"

There was a ghost of a smile on Reyna's features, but it seemed to vanish as she snapped back to attention and focused on Piper, "What? I'm sorry. Is the meeting over?"

Piper was surprised, she'd never known Reyna to be absentminded…something was up, "Yes it ended a couple of minutes ago…are you doing okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, just…I was just thinking of something," the girl's cheeks reddened slightly, "let's head outside, it's so stuffy in this room."

'Did Reyna just try a diversion tactic on me? And is that a blush?' Piper followed after the girl incredulously, something was definitely going on.

"Hey Reyna…I heard you took a little side trip before making your way over here," Piper watched the girl closely for a reaction, "did you happen to…meet someone?"

Reyna stiffened, and the blush vanished from her face, "What? No, I don't know what you're talking about." She seemed flustered.

Piper grinned, "Reyna did you go somewhere to meet a boy?"

This time Reyna seemed to gather her wits about her and rolled her eyes, "I went to Puerto Rico. I had some things to settle there."

"…And?"

Reyna glared at her, but her face softened immediately, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you right now. I promise to tell you everything…after."

"Tell me what, Reyna?" well this girl was just a roller coaster of emotions today!

But Reyna merely bit her lip and looked away, "You're right. I met…someone. You'll learn about it soon enough." She looked down at her watch, "I need to arrange some things at the Roman camp. I'll see you at dinner."

Piper nodded incredulously, "Sure, of course."

Reyna was halfway out the Big House when she hesitated at the door and looked back at Piper, "I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you everything. But I made a promise." She made to leave, but turned once more, "The boy…his name is Remus." There was a small smile on her face.

Then she vanished out the door.

'Well this is new,' she thought idly. Meeting boys in Puerto Rico? Reyna's head in the clouds because of some boy? Piper couldn't remember the last time that happened.

She was still shaking her head in confusion by the time she reached Jason's side. Predictably, their rather large group of friends had all gathered together: Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, Frank, and Nico (Will had probably gone off to prepare the infirmary for tonight, there were bound to be a lot of injuries). It always struck her when they all gathered together. There was always someone missing…Leo's absence was felt all the more strongly when she looked at all their faces. He had always been the one to keep their group in high spirits, without him around things always felt a bit more…strained.

"You alright, Pipes?" Jason, as always, was very perceptive of her mood.

She smiled at him and waved a hand, "Yeah, Reyna's acting a bit weird, but I think it's all good."

"She did look out of it during the meeting…." Spoke Annabeth, "I wonder what's up."

Piper tried to hide her grin, but failed miserably, "I think she met someone."

"Reyna met someone?" Percy, as always, spoke way too loudly, Annabeth whacked him in the back of the head with a frustrated roll of her eyes.

Piper laughed, "I'm not sure, but I think so. She said she'd tell me after the War Games."

Frank chuckled, "Probably wants to keep her head clear for the Games. Can't go off giving you Greeks an edge."

"Not that it would better your chances anyways," Hazel chuckled.

"Ha! Fat chance! The only reason you won last time is because you had home court advantage!" said Jason.

"Yeah, you're on our turf now!" Percy and Jason high fived, Piper was sure she and Annabeth rolled their eyes in perfect unison. Well, some things never changed.

"So….to the lake?" Nico, ever the silent one, finally piped up.

There was a general agreement amongst them and they began to make their way down to the lake in a strange coagulated group. When they finally all settled down around the lake, Piper finally decided to bridge the conversation that they'd neglected to address since the night Nico had visited his father: Leo Valdez. They had resolved not to spread the news of Leo's "rise from the dead" (thanks Percy, Leo would surely love that) until they could gather more information, but had agreed to broach the subject again once Frank and Hazel came to Camp.

"Nico…" she began as gently as she could, "I know we've kind of dropped this for a while, but I was wondering…do you know anything about Leo?"

Hazel and Frank perked up, "What do you mean about Leo?" Hazel said quickly.

Nico frowned, "Nothing more than what I told you last time." He shook his head and turned to Hazel, "About a month ago, I felt Leo's soul cross into the world of the living," he said slowly, "I checked with my father, he said that Leo was alive…but something kept me from knowing for quite some time…"

"So, what? Does he need help? Where is he?" Frank was leaning forward, his hands gripping his knees tightly.

"No, we haven't heard anything from him," Jason spoke up. "All we know is that he's alive."

"He hasn't contacted anyone?" Hazel had relaxed somewhat, but her hand now reached for Frank's in support.

"No, and we can't seem to reach him either," spoke Piper, "We were hoping he'd find his way back to us, but it's been over a month already…why is it taking him so long to get here?"

Annabeth, ever the blunt one, spoke up, "He could be injured somewhere. It's my understanding that he did die at some point. That can't be easy to come back from."

Piper's heart dropped, she'd entertained the idea of course, but hearing it spoken out loud only seemed to solidify the idea in her mind.

"I just don't understand where he could be…I mean…he died here, wouldn't it make sense to come back to life in here?" Percy said.

Hazel shook her head in thought, "Not necessarily, I didn't come back to life in Alaska."

Nico sighed, "I wish I knew more. All I can tell you is that he's not dead or dying. That's it."

"Well then, maybe we should go look for him…" Frank said slowly. Despite what differences Frank and Leo had had in the beginning, Piper knew that Frank cared deeply for their lost friend.

"I've been thinking the same thing," said Piper, "I just wouldn't even know where to start looking. Leo didn't really have a home outside of Camp Half-Blood…where would he go other than here?"

Annabeth sighed, "I still feel like we should wait here. Like you said, there's nowhere else for him to go. He'll find his way here eventually. All demigods find their way here, somehow."

Something must have shown on Piper's face, because Jason gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before he spoke, "How about this: if we still haven't heard anything by the time the War Games are over, a group of us can go out and start looking for him. Maybe we can check in Texas, or track some of his old foster homes."

Frank nodded, "It's as good a place to start as any…"

Piper smiled at Jason and breathed a sigh of relief. Now that they had a plan, she could at least feel a bit better about waiting.

"So in other news….did anyone catch that new Avengers movie?" Percy asked tentatively.

It was the perfect distraction, ever since the boys had learned one of the actors was of Roman descent (his great-grandfather had been a son of Mars) the boys had become overnight fanatics of the movie franchise. Piper rolled her eyes at their antics, and was merely glad that her father had turned down a role in that movie.

In a surprising move, Tristan McLean had recently decided to take a break from acting and become more active behind the camera; he's finally decided to write his own screenplay, one with real Native American stories. Piper couldn't wait to read the finished work.

She gave Jason a final peck on his cheek before moving closer to Annabeth and Hazel, who were also shaking their heads at the boys' excitement. In a way though, it was nice to know some things would never change.

Piper was having a pleasant conversation with Annabeth and Hazel about the future plans of a New Athens when she heard the first cries of alarm.

"What is that?"

"Is it a monster?"

"It looks like a giant dragon!"

'A dragon?' Piper's gaze snapped up, 'No…it can't be…' but the closer it got, the more obvious it became: a giant bronze dragon was headed straight at them.

'Could it really be—' Piper made a loud (totally attractive) squawk as she felt Jason drag her out of the way. The dragon really was headed right at them…and it didn't look like it would slow down in time.

"Everyone back up!" she heard Percy yell as they all scrambled out of the dragon's way. It was only a few hundred yards away now, and there was no mistaking it.

"Festus?!" she heard Frank cry.

Piper tried to squint at the back of the dragon to see if her friend was sitting there, but the sun was doing a lovely job at blocking her sight. She felt a bubbling excitement rise up within her, it had to be Leo! After all this time….

At the last possible moment before impact, Festus's long wings spread out to even out the landing, but the swoop must have come a bit too late, since Piper still felt the ground shake. A cloud of dust billowed up around the dragon as it moved around and settled itself on the floor, and there was smoke and random sparks emitting from the giant machine. Obviously, it had a close fight with some monsters before getting to Camp.

'Leo never was the best at landings…' she almost rolled her eyes, but an overwhelming part of her just needed to see Leo. She needed to make sure it was real.

She hadn't realized she was gripping Jason's hand until she took a step forward, but she was glad to feel it there. They locked eyes and he nodded with a smile on his face as they, and the rest of their group, began to make their way towards the giant dragon.

Piper's heart nearly stopped when she heard his voice, "See, Sunshine? Another perfect landing!" It was deeper, somehow, but there was no mistaking it.

'Wait…who's he talking to?' she quickened her pace.

"Perfect landing?" a female voice scoffed, "You nearly crushed all those people to death!"

She heard Leo's deep chuckle, "But I didn't!"

"But you could have!"

"But I didn't!"

The smoke and dust had cleared out by now, and Piper stood no more than 10 yards away from the giant dragon. And there was Leo Valdez.

With a shock, Piper realized that this wasn't the skinny little Leo they'd known before. This was a full grown Leo. He stood as tall as Jason now, his chest was broader and his muscles had finally filled in. He looked strong, sturdy. But he still had that curly hair, those strangely pointed ears, that wicked smile, those shifty eyes.

With a grin still lingering on his face, Leo's gaze swept over the entirety of the field, passing briefly over Piper and their approaching friends and finally settling on the girl behind him. His smile softened somewhat, and he jumped down from atop Festus's back swiftly before turning around to help the girl down.

'Leo brought a girl…?' but that didn't matter now, because there was Leo Valdez, just a few feet in front of them. Piper lunged at him, "LEO!"

She hugged the boy fiercely, needing to make sure he was really there. He stood stock still, probably shocked at Piper's sudden PDA. But so what?! Leo Valdez was back at Camp Half-Blood. She released the boy and meant to take a step back to let him breathe, but immediately she felt Jason's arms wrap around the two of them, "Leo!"

And somehow, moments later, Piper found herself near the bottom of a dogpile of demigods. Some heroes they were. But it didn't matter. Leo Valdez was back from the dead! She laughed heartily with her friends, all of them holding Leo tightly.

"NNNGH need….air…" she heard Leo's strangled cry.

"Alright come on guys, get off!" she tried nudging away, but they didn't budge, "I said GET OFF!" she laced some charmspeak into it for good measure.

Hastily, they all crawled off Leo and helped him stand, but as soon as he was upright Jason threw his arms around him and patted him firmly on the back, "Good to have you back, man."

"Uh—" but Leo didn't get a chance to speak because once more Piper threw her arms around him.

"I can't believe you're finally back," she spoke into his shirt, tears leaked out her eyes, "I knew you weren't dead, I just knew it!"

She sniffed and pushed him away gently, "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?!" she tried to lace some anger into her voice; after all, he'd kept them waiting a hell of a long time!

But Leo just looked at them blankly, "Umm…" he swept his gaze over them once more. All seven of them were staring at him eagerly, waiting to hear his explanation, but Leo just turned back to the girl who had stood there patiently the whole time. He tilted his head as if saying, 'What do you make of this?'

Confused beyond belief, Piper's gaze zeroed in on the girl. The first thing that struck Piper was her beauty. Piper had met with her mother Aphrodite several times and knew what the most beautiful woman in the world looked like, but this girl could give her mother a decent run for her money. The girl had a more muted beauty, like she wasn't consciously trying to look nice and it just happened by accident. She looked very petite, and yet carried herself proud, like she knew her own strength well.

As she stepped forward, Piper heard a strangled gasp from her right, "Percy Jackson," spoke the girl, a small, wistful smile gracing her features, "how you've grown."

Everybody's heads swiveled to Percy, his eyes were wide and his jaw hung open for a moment, "Umm…You look—" he cut off as he glanced sideways at Annabeth, but he wasn't quite able to hide the reddening of his cheeks 'What in the world…?' "It's been a long time…" he swallowed, "Calypso."

All eyes snapped back to Calypso, so this was the famous goddess trapped in an island. Seeing her in the flesh, Piper could somehow understand the allure the girl had, it was clear that this girl's memory would stay with anyone that got close to her.

Calypso laughed without real mirth, "A long time…Yes …I was happy to hear that your quest was successful."

Percy's face reddened even more, he lowered his eyes, "I asked them to bail you out. When it was all over. I thought you were free. I didn't think…I'm sorry…" The tension between the two was so thick Piper was afraid to move for fear of it snapping.

Calypso gazed at Percy for a moment, her face betraying nothing. Then, she turned her attention to Leo and took his hand, the happiest of smiles gracing her features, "It's of little consequence now, what's done is done."

Leo smiled at her, the look on his face one that Piper never dreamed she would see on him. It was a look of pure adoration, like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. Was this really the Leo Valdez they'd lost so long ago…?

"So this whole time," spoke Frank, an edge to his voice, "you've just been living it up with some girl?!"

"Woah, Frank…" Jason tried to calm the bulky son of Mars.

"Frank's right!" Hazel's voice was angry as well, "Do you have any idea what it felt like, knowing we were the ones that helped you with everything? Would it really have been so hard to let us know you were okay?"

"Hazel…!" Nico looked at his sister in shock; none of them had ever seen her lose her temper like this before.

"We had to live with the fact that we helped you die, Leo!" yelled Frank, "Do you have any idea how that—"

But Calypso's voice, sharp and agitated, cut him off, "Stop it!"

"Oh gods, Leo!" Leo had collapsed on his knees and was holding his head between his hands, his face entirely hidden from view. It looked like he was shivering, and Piper noticed a trail of sweat rolling off his back.

Piper felt a cold stab of fear pierce her heart, what was wrong with Leo? She tried taking a step towards him, but Calypso stood in her way and shielded him from them.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Nico as he glanced suspiciously at Calypso.

A muscle twitched on Calypso's face, but she did not move aside. "I understand that Leo is your friend, but you need to be a little more patient."

"Patient?" spoke Percy, "Calypso, we've waited three years, he's our friend and we've missed him!"

There was that smile on her face once more, "I am well aware of how painful it is to wait for those you love, Percy Jackson."

Percy stumbled backwards, looking as if he'd been struck. Annabeth looked as if she'd just swallowed something particularly nasty as she gazed upon the newcomer.

"Please…just tell us what's wrong," Piper, attempting to play peacemaker, tried to keep her voice even, "we all care about Leo here, we just want to help." She allowed just a little bit of her charmspeak to bleed through her tone, just enough to calm the girl down.

For the first time since she'd arrived, Calypso's eyes met hers. Piper felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge: there was something about this girl that just screamed power—charmspeak would not work on her. There was a sharp, raw look about her eyes, a fierceness that spoke volumes of her character. Her gaze was knowing and wise, like she'd seen kingdoms rise and fall and remained standing. This was not a girl to cross.

After seeming to find whatever she was searching for in Piper's eyes though, Calypso broke her gaze. Piper tried to suppress her shiver. 'This girl…she's lived for millennia. What must we look like to her? She's a goddess…she could kill us all if she wanted to.'

But Calypso merely sank down and murmured something into Leo's ears. He seemed to nod, and slowly eased himself into a sitting position. Shaking off whatever it is that was ailing him, he grinned up at them from his spot on the floor.

"Well that was a lot of fun," it was that same sarcastic drawl he'd used before, Piper's heart warmed just hearing him say that, "but next time let's do it without all the explosive tempers and the collapsing bit, okay? But great job with the whole 'Leo is a heartless ass' bit, purple shirt!"

Frank looked down at his shirt in confusion, but Leo kept speaking, "Oh and you, Jackson, is it? We're gonna have a nice long chat about how you abandoned my girlfriend on a deserted island, not cool man."

Percy looked even more confused than before, "Wait, what? We talked about this at the arena when we were trying to capture Nike! I promised you I'd help you find your way back to her…" he trailed off as he looked at Calypso, "but I guess you didn't really need it…"

Leo frowned thoughtfully, "Hmm. Maybe. I wouldn't know, would I?"

"What do you mean you wouldn't know?" Annabeth, sharp as ever was scrutinizing Leo closely. That stab of fear clutched at Piper's heart once more.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Leo smiled up at them and held his palms facing upwards, "I've lost my memory. I have no idea who any of you are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Dang it, Leo, you can't just drop bombshells like that like it's nothing! Smh -_-
> 
> Hahaha in all seriousness though it was really strange writing from Piper's point of view. I guess I never really connected with her character, but I hope I stayed decently loyal to her personality. Y'all feel free to let me know _
> 
> I was trying to decide which Avengers actor should be of Roman descent but I couldn't pick one. I'm leaning towards Mark Ruffalo though….
> 
> Anyways the next chapter is halfway done, and yes all comments speed up my writing, it's a scientific fact, I swear! Not telling you whose perspective it's from but know that a Percy POV is coming soon :D and yes, I'm very excited.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and drop me a line to let me know your thoughts!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'M ALIVE! Hey guys, I'm soooo sorry about my prolonged absence from this fanfic, please understand it was definitely not my intention to leave you all hanging for so long. As I'm sure you're ready for this chapter (you've waited long enough) I'll hold my explanations until the end. Enjoy!

Leo looked up at the assembled demigods before him; from his position on the ground they looked particularly tall and threatening. Which was always fun.

In hindsight, he probably could have found a gentler way to break the news to them, but tact was never really his style. Besides, it was immensely entertaining to watch the different looks that crossed the demigods' faces.

Yes, maybe Leo was being a little mean, but they had given him a hell of a migraine; he figured a little emotional turmoil suffered on their end would even out the scales.

"You—what?!" purple shirt sputtered out, his face starting to match the color of his shirt.

"Oh Leo…"purple shirt's girlfriend whispered as she placed a hand over her mouth and looked at him with pity. 'Woah there, pity? Not necessary, amiga!'

The black haired vampire-looking goth kid rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath, while the blonde girl peered at Leo closely, as if he were an ant under her magnifying glass. The other two boys, Jackson and the blonde guy, locked eyes with grim looks on their faces, as if reaching some kind of understanding.

But the brunette girl was. not. a. happy. camper.

"Is this some kind of a joke?!" she asked (more like screeched) and took a step towards him, "What kind of sick, twisted—"

But the blonde dude had wrapped his arms around her, preventing her from approaching Leo and beating him half to death, "Whoa, hey there Pipes, calm down—"

"Calm down? Calm down?! How could you even—let me go, Jason! I said, let me go!" her voice took on that weird tone it had taken earlier, Leo felt some weird emotion go through him as he heard her, and the guy, Jason's, eyes glazed over as he released her with no resistance.

"Look," Leo began as he eased himself up, "I'm sorry, I really don't remember anything."

The girl took a deep breath, "Okay, so maybe you didn't remember some things, but the memories are coming back now, right? You had some buried in there? Like how Percy still remembered Annabeth, and Jason remembered how to fight. And once we all got together they remembered their past, right guys?" she turned her attention to the two boys, "The memories came back to you over time, right?" they nodded uneasily, "So…you remember us, right? You do know who we are?"

Leo could actually see the tears welling up in the girl's eyes, but as much as he tried, he couldn't remember anything about her. He felt bad for hurting her, but aside from that…he felt nothing at all. "No, I don't."

The girl took a step back, looking hurt, "You don't remember the wilderness school? Or the venti? Or what about the Argo II, your pride and joy? And how we battled all those monsters together? How you and Jason would hack into the video game software and turn it to idiot mode?"

Leo winced, that migraine from before coming back full force. His vision was swimming, but he forced himself to stand up straight. He felt Calypso take a breath beside him, but squeezed her hand to keep her from interfering. He'd waited for so long to just know who he was before he lost his memories, and at the moment the girl was throwing out all the answers to his unasked questions at lightning speed. The escalating headache was not enough to stop him from getting the answers he so desperately needed, "I—"

But the girl kept talking, "What about when we were in Chicago and you saved us form those cyclops? Or when you almost started a war between the Greeks and Romans?"

The last thought that raced through his mind was a perplexed, 'I tried to start a war?' but then all at once the ground rushed up and the world went dark.

When Leo came to, it was to the smell of cinnamon. He breathed in slowly and kept his eyes shut, taking in the familiar scent of Calypso lying next to him on the comfortable bed. For a second he thought he would open his eyes to see that familiar constellation of crystals above him, but when he was met with the sight of wooden rafters he couldn't hold back his groan of frustration as he remembered the previous day's events.

Calypso shot up as if she'd been electrified, "Leo? Are you okay?"

Other than a stiff neck from sleeping at a weird angle, he felt pretty good for having collapsed so suddenly, "Yeah, I'm fine. How long was I out? …And where are we?"

She sighed in relief, "We're in Camp Half-Blood. They call this place the Big House or something. You've been out since last night."

"Oh," he'd never blacked out for quite that long, not since he first arrived at Ogygia. "I'm sorry if I worried you."

She frowned, then reached over and smacked him on the back of his head, "OW!" he yelped.

"That's what you get for worrying me, you jerk!"

He chuckled as he rubbed the tender spot on the back of his head, "Right, sorry, I'll try my best not to do it again, Sunshine."

She rolled her eyes and kissed him soundly, "Promise me?"

"I promise I'll try," he grinned sheepishly at her.

Calypso was just leaning in for another kiss when a knock at the door interrupted them; Leo frowned but nonetheless called out a "Come in!"

Jason stepped through the door carefully, he was alone this time, and was sporting an obnoxiously bright orange t-shirt that made Leo's pupils hurt. "Hey," he smiled easily, "I was wondering if we could talk?"

Leo nodded his head, "Sure."

Jason cleared his throat and glanced at Calypso nervously, "Umm…alone?"

Leo was sure he heard a growl come from Calypso, who seemed to hold Jason's gaze for longer than was necessary, as if to determine whether he was worthy. For a second it seemed that she was going to voice her objection, but she merely stood up and walked away without a word. 'Wonder what that was about?'

After the door closed behind Calypso, Jason seemed to relax a little and pulled a chair up to the bed and sat backwards on it. "So, how you feeling, amnesiac?"

Leo laughed, "Not too bad, considering."

"So, you really don't remember me?"

"Nope, nothing at all," Leo shook his head.

"Huh. I guess that means I can re-use all my old jokes," he laughed to himself, as if enjoying a private joke.

Leo chuckled, "Lucky you!" that sounded like something Leo would've said.

Jason smiled once more, "No worries, I lost my memory before too, it sucked. You were a pretty good sport about the whole thing, so I'll try my best to help you out as well."

Leo smiled, "Thanks man, it's nice to know I'm not special anymore."

"Right, you always did think way too highly of yourself anyways," He laughed, "I had to make sure you remembered your place."

They both laughed; already Leo felt close to this boy, it was clear they'd been very good friends at some point. "So are y'all gonna fix me up or what?"

"Yeah, your….Calypso told us what we needed to heal you last night. We should be able to get you patched up within the next day or so."

Leo smirked, "You scared of my girlfriend?"

Jason chuckled, "Dude, she's kind of scary."

"How's that?" Leo laughed. And here he thought she was only mean and scary to Leo!

Jason's face turned serious, "It's just…last night…she really cares about you, doesn't she?"

Leo sobered up upon hearing Jason's tone, "Yeah…we both really care about each other."

Jason nodded, "I figured. She was very upset with us for hurting you. Once we got you to the room she kicked everyone out and insisted on healing you herself. She wouldn't even take nectar or ambrosia from us."

"Oh." Leo felt cold; he didn't realize he affected Calypso quite so much. He never meant to worry her.

"Yeah…" Jason seemed to shudder as he remembered Calypso's anger, but soon enough he shook himself out of it and turned back to Leo, "Anyways, I'm glad you found someone to take care of you. Jupiter knows you need someone like Calypso to keep you in line."

Leo laughed once more, "Hey! I resent that!"

For the next few hours, Leo enjoyed listening to Jason's easy string of conversation regarding the characters and inner workings of the Greek and Roman camps. Jason was careful to stray away from any topic that might ignite another migraine from Leo, something for which the son of Hephaestus was immensely grateful. Already, Leo felt the beginnings (or perhaps continuance?) of a great camaraderie between the two demigods. Having had no memory of ever having a true friend, Leo could not express how amazing it was to find such a close friendship to this boy already.

During their conversation, Jason went into great detail regarding the special event that Leo had unwittingly interrupted: the Greek and Roman War Games. It was a recently founded tradition the two camps held to both commemorate their newfound alliance and relieve any pent up aggression the two camps might hold against one another. It was not, Jason repeated with an eye roll, all in Leo's honor. But Leo remained convinced that it was, why else would the celebratory games begin on the anniversary of his death?

"I told you, it's because it's the day that the two camps came together and defeated Gaea!" Jason insisted, though the smirk at the edge of his lip showed his obvious amusement.

"And I told you, I'm the one that died killing Gaea, so either way it's all about me!"

"Ugh, you're impossible, Valdez!" Jason groaned as he threw his hands skywards, "Anyways, we had our first battle last night."

Leo leaned forward, intrigued, "And? Did we win?"

Jason pulled a strange face, "No, we lost. But it was a calculated loss."

"Meaning what? You lost on purpose?"

"Exactly."

Leo laughed, "What the hell kind of strategy is that? No one wins by losing!"

Jason shook his head, a somewhat smug grin on his face, "We may lose one battle but we shall win the war."

"Okay, whatever Confucius, but how exactly is losing going to help you win?"

"Confucius, really?" Jason chuckled at his antics, "Look, there's a total of twelve 'battles,' one in honor of each of the twelve Olympian gods. Because she was the one to turn the tides during the Second Giant War, the first battle honors the goddess Athena. Athena, as you know, represents wisdom, intellect, and tactical warfare. We calculated the loss knowing that it would embolden the Romans and cause them to show their strengths too early. They'll be cocky now, and we know where they're likely to strike. Plus—"

"Now that you've honored Athena by utilizing her valued traits, you hope she'll favor you in the coming battles. It's a very clever plan, who came up with it?"

Leo and Jason both turned to the voice, "Sunshine! There you are, you were gone so long I was starting to think you abandoned me."

She smiled at him, "Not likely, Flame boy. I've been catching up with someone I haven't seen in a long time."

She looked calmer than before, Leo wondered who she'd been speaking to that would get her in such a good mood. 'Surely not that Jackson boy….' He couldn't help the small spark of jealousy that flared up inside him.

Oblivious to Leo's train of thought, Calypso sat herself down next to Leo and prompted Jason once more, "So was it your plan, son of Jupiter?"

"No," he said slowly, "it was Annabeth's."

'Oh, well that's awkward,' thought Leo, glancing up at Calypso to gauge her reaction.

But Calypso just nodded her head, seeming deep in thought, "Yes, of course. It makes sense that a daughter of Athena would suggest such a plan. She is clearly her mother's daughter."

Jason smiled uneasily, "Right. Yeah."

Calypso looked at both Jason and Leo critically before she huffed and rolled her eyes skywards, "Oh please!" she exclaimed, "I will not have this entire camp walk on eggshells around me just because of Percy Jackson and his girlfriend. It was lifetimes ago, there's no need to be so careful about hurting my precious feelings!"

Leo winced, but it was Jason who spoke up, "I'm sorry, I guess we have been. It's just you two seemed so tense earlier…"

Calypso sighed, as if to collect herself, "Look, just because I'm over Percy doesn't mean I forgive him for what he did to me. But that's something he and I will have to discuss at some point. For now, just know that I'm not some pathetic maid crying over a broken heart. You'd do well to inform your friends of this before my frustrations boil over."

"I'm sure they're just trying to be considerate, Sunshine" Leo stepped in to save Jason from Calypso's anger. He'd incited it enough times to know how to diffuse the ticking time bomb that was Calypso's wrath. "Besides, it's obvious you're not hung up on that Jackson punk. Especially now you've got alllllllllll this Latin flavor!" he winked saucily at her and when she laughed and pushed him gently he knew he'd been successful.

Jason joined in on the laughter, and just like that the feeling in the room had changed. Jason continued to fill the two of them in on the upcoming battles. And although she had been out of the game for millennia, Calypso absorbed everything Jason said eagerly, sharing her insights and showing a familiarity with tactics the likes of which Leo wasn't aware she had.

The son of Jupiter fervently discussed tactics with Calypso, seeming awed with her insights, "Aw, man, you've got to bring these up to Annabeth and Clarisse! I'm sure between the three of you we would be unstoppable!"

Calypso smiled shyly, "I'm merely working off the strategies already in place, you Greeks really thought this out well."

"Well, all I know is that I'm excited for the Hephaestus battle!" Leo chimed in, "I'm telling you, get me into a forge and I'll whip up some stuff that's gonna melt those Roman's brains to putty from sheer awesomeness!"

Jason laughed heartily, "I look forward to seeing it." His face changed upon catching a look at the clock on the wall, "Ah damn, I didn't realize what time it was! I have to get to the war council, but I'll be sure to bring up your ideas Calypso, maybe you can join us for the council tomorrow afternoon? Our next battle is at 9 tomorrow night."

Calypso nodded, "Assuming Flame Boy is alright after his memory recovery, then yes, I'd like to join in on the fun."

"Alright, bet. See you two after dinner!" He sprang up and ran out the door before Leo could even ask if they would serve enchiladas.

Leo turned to Calypso on an afterthought, "Wait so, tonight? We're getting my memories back tonight?"

Calypso stretched herself out on the bed and Leo arranged himself next to her, "I was speaking to Chiron earlier today. We figured it would be best for you to get your memories back as soon as possible, so you won't have to suffer any more. Everything around here is so familiar to you, we just figured the sooner you remembered, the less chances you'll pass out again." She stopped speaking and looked up at him, "If that's okay with you?"

"Yes, I guess that's fine," he hummed thoughtfully, "Who's Chiron?"

Calypso smiled bemusedly, "I suppose he's the Camp's leader. He oversees all the workings of the Camp and is charged by the gods to train all Greek heroes."

"…And?"

"And he's also my half-brother."

"Oh." Leo frowned thoughtfully, "Did he also….?"

She shook her head, anticipating his interrogation, "No, Chiron was working against my father since the beginning. He's been training heroes since the dawn of man."

"Ah, I see." Leo nodded, "Were you two close?"

"Not really, father kept a much closer watch over me. In his eyes, Chiron was only a centaur subservient to the gods, I wasn't really allowed to interact with him much."

"Wait. Wait. Wait." Leo sat up, "So you're telling me your brother is half-horse?"

She chuckled, "Half-brother."

Leo laid back down slowly, "Okay. So your half-brother is a half-horse. Okay. I can deal with this." Although honestly Leo had to admit his head was spinning a bit. His thousand year old girlfriend had a thousand year old half-brother, who was half-horse, who also happened to train Greek heroes for a living, and ran a whole camp for it. The word 'weird' didn't even begin to cover this.

He shook his head to rid his thoughts of this, "So after tonight, I'll be getting all my old memories back."

"Correct."

"So the old Leo will be back."

She nodded, then sat up slowly, "There's not an 'old Leo' and a 'new Leo'…there's just you, Leo Valdez."

He sighed, "But can you be sure, though? I like this Leo. What if I don't like who I was before?"

Calypso rolled her eyes in mock frustration, "How many times must I explain this to you, Hot Head. You're the exact same person I fell in love with all those years ago. Sure, there's some backstory you may have forgotten, but you're still you. You're still the same stupid boy that broke my dinner table and sassed me to no end."

Leo grinned slowly, "I suppose it will be nice to remember my first impression of you. I wonder if it was the same as the first impression I have of you now."

"You never did tell me what your first impression of me was," she chuckled.

He smiled as he pulled her to him and kissed her deeply, "That you must be the most beautiful goddess to ever walk this earth."

And as he laid Calypso's body under his, Leo found he did not care what revelations the future held, so long as Calypso would remain by his side, he could deal with anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay guys, sorry but this was the hardest chapter I've had to write so far. Again, a thousand apologies for my delay in updating, I've been dealing with some very personal struggles and was very down for the majority of the month, but please know that all your comments did a tremendous job at cheering me up!
> 
> I pushed myself to write this chapter because I knew you were all eagerly awaiting it, but all the stuff that's been thrown my way this month did nothing but cause some serious writer's block :/
> 
> I'm hoping to have some more free time next week, but will try to get another chapter out as soon as possible. Thank you so much for waiting so patiently for my update, and again, thank you to all those of you who commentedand cheered me up :D
> 
> The next chapter will be told from Percy's POV and will feature a confrontation between him and Calypso. I've pictured their meeting resulting in several different outcomes, so I'm excited to see how it will come out (yes, most of the times I'm not even sure how it will come out until it's typed out in front of me).
> 
> Also, Leo and Calypso will be joining in on those war games soon enough. I wonder who will win the next battle?
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading and drop me a line to let me know your thoughts!


	20. Chapter 20

“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Calypso looked down at Leo one more time, fidgeting with his pillow and fussing over him in general.  
Leo rolled his eyes good naturedly, “Calypso. Sunshine. This pillow is made of, like, Pegasus feathers or something. There is nothing you can do to make it more comfortable.”  
She huffed, “You know I’m not talking about the pillow.” She snuck a glance to the other end of the cabin, where the other demigods were talking amongst themselves and giving the two a moment of privacy. “Look,” she said again, her voice muted, “you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. There is nothing wrong with you, we could leave this place and never come back.”  
“Weren’t you the one encouraging me the other day and telling me that nothing will change if I get my memories back?” he grinned, “Calypso, I want to do this. I want to be a whole person.”  
“You are a whole person!” she pouted.  
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cupped the back of her head gently, “Sunshine,” he mumbled as he pulled her close, “what is this really about?”  
Calypso tried to shy away, but Leo’s hold was steady. She sighed in defeat and looked down in embarrassment. “I just…I liked being the only one okay?” she mumbled weakly.  
He chuckled, “What do you mean? Of course you’re the only one! I mean, I know I’m attractive and all, but I’m a one gal type of man, you know?”  
She groaned, and tried once more to pull away—with no success. “That’s not what I mean. It’s just—it was nice, for once, just…being the only one that you loved. I’ve never had that before, okay? Someone who cared only for me, and no one else. And now I’m gonna have to share you with your friends. And I don’t know if I can deal with that.” She looked upwards to brace herself for what she was about to say, “I’m jealous of your friends.”  
Leo did not release her, but instead brought his other hand behind her head and tucked her into his chest. She heard his heart beating steadily beneath her and felt his entire body shift with his intake of breath. “Look Calypso,” he murmured into her ear, “I don’t know what exactly is going to happen after I recover my memories, but I do know one thing: I love you. Calypso I love you so much that I was willing to die for the mere chance that I would get to see you one more time. And even though I don’t have clear memories from that time, I know that I would do it all again in a heartbeat. For you. No matter who, or what I remember, I know that this is one thing that will never change. So maybe I’ll have some more people to interact with, but so will you. I know this is all new to you, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. You and I, Sunshine, that’s forever. That’s, like, epic.”  
She laughed weakly into his chest, willing the tears to go away, knowing that they had an audience and this was not the time to make a scene. Once she had a hold over her emotions, she wiggled out from Leo’s hold and looked down at him, “Leo Valdez, when did you get so wise?”  
“I was always wise, you just hadn’t realized it yet,” he grinned.  
She smiled back as she gave him a swift kiss, “I love you, you hot-headed, self-centered, egotistical, poor excuse for a mechanic.”  
He laughed heartily, which got the attention of the demigods across the room.  
“You ready to go, flame-boy?” Jason spoke as he approached the bed Leo was laying on.  
“I guess so, but no funny business while I’m out. I want all these goods intact when I wake up.”  
Piper, much calmer now than she had been when Calypso first met her, rolled her eyes, “Yeah, okay, don’t worry about any of that happening.”  
Leo snuck a glance at Calypso and winked. She giggled, and felt more than one demigods’ eyes swivel to her in surprise. ‘I guess they still don’t know what to make of me yet,’ she thought dryly.  
“Well then, Clovis, do your thing!” Hazel said eagerly. Her request, however, went unanswered. She turned and cast her gaze about, “Um, Clovis?”  
Nico, the dark headed boy with the pale skin, sighed and roughly poked the boy in question, “Wake up! You’ve got work to do!”  
Clovis half-snored, half-snorted as he shook himself out of a seemingly deep sleep. “What, is it dinner time yet?”  
Calypso had to take a deep breath so as to not snap at the poor boy, it wasn’t his fault that his father was the god of sleep.  
“No, Snorlax, it’s time to put me to sleep, remember? Memory recovery and all that?” Leo gestured dramatically to his head.  
“Oh, hmm, right, of course…” Clovis said sleepily, his eyes drooping once more.  
“Clovis! Wake up!” spoke Piper, her voice clearly laced with some charmspeak for an extra pep.  
This time, Clovis sprang up, “I’m up, I’m up!” he looked around wildly, until his eyes settled on Leo, “Right, deep sleep. Memory recovery. Correct?”  
Frank sighed in exasperation, “Yes, Clovis. Please.”  
Clovis nodded as he approached Leo’s bed, “Well if you’re ready—“  
“Wait!” Leo held his palm up, then dramatically swung the Golden Fleece around his shoulders and laid back down again. “I am in full burrito mode. You may now commence your spellweaving.”  
Some of the boys chuckled, but Clovis merely nodded drowsily as he laid his hand on Leo’s forehead. “Just close your eyes and relax. What is your favorite place in the world?” he spoke slowly.  
Leo’s eyes drifted closed, “Ogygia,” he murmured, “the shoreline, where we watched the stars…”  
Calypso felt nearly everyone’s eyes swing to her once more, and she had to willingly stop herself from flushing. And yet, a part of her could not hold back a small smile, thinking back to that night they slept under the stars. That was her favorite place too.  
“The shoreline, good. Now just think of the waves, how they sounded, the smell of the sea in the air, the grains of sand under you…” Clovis spoke softly and dreamily, Calypso nearly found herself drifting off along with Leo, so clearly could she picture the scene.  
Leo sighed sleepily, his body relaxing entirely. In no time at all his breathing steadied and his body stilled. He was fully and completely asleep.  
Clovis yawned heartily; his task now done, he seemed ready to drift off himself. “Right, he’ll be under for a while. Can I sleep now?” even as he spoke, Clovis was shuffling over to the main room of the cabin and settling into his bed.  
“Thank you, Clovis,” Calypso spoke, but the only response she got from Clovis was a deep sigh as his figure settled into the bed and moved no more.  
“So…what now?” Jason spoke after an awkward pause.  
“Now we wait,” Percy said, his eyes immediately dropping to the floor when they accidentally made contact with Calypso.  
Annabeth looked around the room, her eyes resting on Calypso perhaps a bit longer than necessary, “Well, I suppose there’s not much we can do at this point,” she glanced at Leo and sighed, “it’s all on him now.”  
“Annabeth is right,” Calypso said softly, wanting now, more than ever, to just be alone with Leo. “You should all go get some sleep, you have war games tomorrow. There’s nothing left for you to do. I’ll stay the night here and look over him.”  
Nico nodded immediately, seeming to understand Calypso’s true motives, “Of course, you should be the one to look after him. I need to help Will at the infirmary anyways. Goodnight.” He seemed to melt into the shadows as he exited the room.  
Annabeth and Percy followed after him. And after Hazel laid a quick peck on Leo’s forehead, Hazel and Frank left too.  
Piper and Jason seemed to linger in the room, as if debating whether or not they wanted to demand to stay. However, after what Calypso presumed was some kind of couple-mind-meld/telepathy communication, the two of them seemed to agree to leave Calypso alone with Leo.  
“Let us know if you need anything.” Jason said as he stepped a bit closer to Leo’s bedside and looked down at him, “Just hang in there, Leo. I’ll see you tomorrow, old friend.” He half-smiled and stepped away.  
Piper, like Hazel, kissed Leo in the forehead and whispered well wishes to him, “You’ll be okay Leo. You’ll be just fine.” She glanced up at Calypso, “Let us know if anything changes, please?”  
Calypso smiled at the girl, touched by her genuine concern for Leo. “Of course, you’ll be the first to know.”  
Piper smiled weakly and grasped Jason’s hand as he led her out of the cabin, “Goodnight!” she called weakly as she exited the cabin.  
Calypso waved at the couple and sighed once the door swung shut behind them. She glanced over at Leo and sighed deeply. This would be a long night.  
She pulled up a chair and sat as close to his bed as possible, one hand gripping his hand tightly while the other swept away the stray curls on his forehead. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, merely watching his chest rise and fall, but she must have dozed off at some point, because all of a sudden she was jerked awake when Leo’s entire body seemed to go into a wild seizure.  
Startled, Calypso sprang up quickly and pinned Leo’s flailing arms to the bed. “Leo?! Are you okay?” she tried getting a good look at his face, but it must still be night time because the room was pitch-black. His lack of a response, however, suggested that he was still very much asleep. Frantically, she attempted to pin down all his limbs to stop him from hurting himself in his sleep.  
As she was in the middle of her struggle, Calypso heard the door creak open at the end of the room. There, carrying a small lamp, stood a half-asleep Piper. Once her eyes landed on Calypso though, her eyes widened and she hastened over to the bed and pinned down Leo’s legs as he thrashed wildly. The two of them struggled quietly for a few minutes as they attempted to hold down Leo’s limbs, but just as suddenly as the fit had begun, it ended. Panting slightly, the both of them locked gazes before they nodded and gently let go of Leo’s arms and legs.  
Pulling up a chair next to Calypso’s Piper sank into her chair with a big sigh. “Well that’s one way to wake up,” she turned to Calypso, “has he been like that all night?”  
Still trying to catch her breath, Calypso shook her head slightly, “No, it had just started before you walked in. I must have fallen asleep, what time is it?”  
“About 2, maybe 3 in the morning.” She turned her gaze back to Leo, “I couldn’t sleep.”  
Calypso peered closely at Piper, taking note of the clear signs of worry and concern on the girl’s face, “You really care about him, don’t you?”  
Piper’s eyes locked on Calypso’s with a ferocity that Calypso did not expect from her, “Yes, I do. He’s one of my best friends. He saved my life; he saved everyone’s lives.”  
Calypso stared into the girl’s face once more, keeping her gaze even with her. “He talked about you, you know. When he first landed in Ogygia. He told me he felt like you didn’t need him around. He felt cast out: yours and Jason’s third wheel. He felt that you didn’t want him on your quest.”  
Piper’s face crumbled under Calypso’s close scrutiny, “He really said all that? I never—I mean we never--…it wasn’t like that…” she looked down at her hands as she wringed them tightly in her lap, “May—maybe we weren’t quite as close as we used to be, you know? Me and Jason were just getting to know each other again, and I guess we wanted a little bit more quality time than we used to, but…we never meant for him to feel that way. Of course we wanted him around, he was the one that held everyone together.”  
“I’m sure you didn’t realize that until he was gone, didn’t you?” Calypso said sharply.  
Piper could only stare at her hands, her head still bowed.  
“You all made him feel like an outcast, and you were all too busy ‘getting to know’ each other and locking lips to even realize he was all alone on that quest! He cared so much about you all, and you dismissed him, made him feel like he was nothing more than a bad joke!”  
Calypso’s words hung in the air, stagnant and lingering. But after taking a deep breath, Piper looked up slowly and held her gaze steady with hers. “He’s everything to you, isn’t he? You really would do anything for him. You would die for him.”  
“He and I have both made great sacrifices to be together.”  
Piper’s face scrunched up as she thought that over, “He died in order to be with you…what could you have done that is equal to that?”  
But Calypso merely stayed silent as she held the girl’s gaze.  
“…You’re not a goddess anymore, are you? I wasn’t sure before, but…you don’t feel like a goddess. Don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt of your powers, but…they aren’t quite goddess-level powers, are they? You gave it up…your powers, your godliness…just to be with him?”  
“Yes.” Calypso’s voice was muted.  
Piper sat there quietly, her face agape in astonishment. And then, quite suddenly she smiled and leapt at Calypso, enveloping her in a tight hug. “Thank you,” Piper whispered, “thank you so much for saving him, for bringing him home.”  
Calypso sat there awkwardly for a while, not quite sure what to make of the girl’s sudden display of affection, she never did do well with Aphrodite’s children. But just as she was considering throwing the girl off of her, Piper seemed to gather her wits about her and released Calypso form her uncomfortable hold.  
She sniffed as she wiped her eyes, though her face was fully composed when she spoke again, “I’m sorry, it’s just—I’m really glad Leo found someone that cares for him so much. He deserves that.” She looked at Leo fondly, “I know Jason and I probably made him feel uncomfortable, but I hope he’ll realize that was never our intention. We were so worried about our future; we didn’t even know if we would make it through the summer. And Jason and I were just starting to fall in love, you know? I guess we should have each spent more time with him. But I promise you, he was always our best friend and we always cared about him. Of course we wanted him there, he was the only one that could cheer us up and make us laugh even when everything looked so bleak…he was—is—a great friend. I hope he’ll remember that, once he wakes up.”  
“Yes,” Calypso nodded, “I hope he will.” She had heard all that she needed to hear, so she took a deep breath before she smiled kindly at the girl, “Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so gruff with you. He was so very hurt, when I first met him, you have to understand that I was just concerned for him.”  
Piper nodded, “Of course.”  
“It’s hard, you know, living for so long and yet never being alive. I lived for millennia on that island, I watched kingdoms rise and fall. I watched heroes come and go. But I could never take part of anything, I could never really change anything. And I think some part of me had accepted that, that I would never be part of the world ever again. But then when Leo came…he changed everything. He made me alive again…I will never repay him for that.”  
Piper smiled fondly, “I’m glad you two found each other.”  
Calypso smiled back, “You know, it’s no secret that I’m not your mother’s biggest fan, but you’re not bad, for a daughter of Aphrodite.”  
Piper laughed, “Yeah, you’d be surprised about how often I hear that. I guess everyone expects the self-obsessed beauty queen when they hear ‘daughter of Aphrodite,’ huh?”  
“Yes, well, it’s not like your dear mother has tried to discourage the stereotype, has she?”  
“I guess not,” Piper chuckled.  
“I suppose now that your mother had such a hand in helping me and Leo get out of Ogygia I’ll have to re-evaluate my opinion on some things.”  
“I guess that’s what happens when you’ve been away for a while, huh?”  
Calypso laughed, but as she opened her mouth to speak, Leo suddenly started thrashing once more, “Quick, hold down his legs!”  
Piper responded quickly, and they both struggled to hold down the flailing Leo. This time, a pained groan escaped from his mouth, followed by some intelligible muttering that for the life of her Calypso could make no sense of.  
The two girls struggled with Leo’s limbs for a bit longer this time around, and when his flailing stopped once more, Calypso noted that he was flushed and sweating at the end of it.  
“Get me a rag and some cold water.” She ordered Piper as she worried over Leo’s state. Piper promptly provided the items requested and the two girls sat quietly as Calypso wiped his face and placed the cool cloth over his forehead.  
“Is he running a fever?” Piper spoke quietly.  
Calypso sighed, “Yes, and I’m afraid he’s only going to get worse as the night goes on. This process is not a kind one to the body.”  
Piper nodded, “Don’t worry, I’ll stay with you. You shouldn’t have to deal with this alone.”  
Calypso nodded at the girl and half-smiled, “You’re a good friend, Piper McLean. Leo is lucky to have you.”  
“You know,” Piper spoke slowly, “we can be friends too, if you want.”  
“Friends?” Calypso mused quietly, “I don’t think I’ve made a new friend in a very long time….Yes, we can be friends.”  
Piper smiled widely, looking to all the world like she’d never made a new friend in her entire life, “Good because I’m sure Leo has done a piss-poor job at catching you up with the real world! I mean have you even watched Mean Girls yet? Or The Notebook?”  
Calypso frowned, “What notebook? And why would I want to look at rude girls?”  
Piper groaned, “Like, the movies? He hasn’t taken you to the movies yet?”  
“I suppose we were a little busy, you know, adjusting to the real world and trying to survive while finding our way over here.”  
“Yeah, yeah,” Piper rolled her eyes good naturedly, “but he could have spared, like, three hours to take you to a movie at least!”  
Calypso chuckled, she had a basic understanding of what a movie was, but she’d never quite gotten around to actually seeing one. “So tell me about the movies you mentioned, what are they about?”  
And so Piper launched into a way-too-detailed description of the movies, most of the things she said were so detailed that Calypso could make absolutely no sense of it, but she just nodded along and let the girl speak on. Eventually though, Leo had another seizure, and so both girls stayed silent as they held him down for what must have been 30 full minutes.  
Exhausted now, Piper sank into her chair, panting and sweating from the effort. Instead, Calypso picked up the now warmed cloth from the ground, re-moistened it and placed it back on Leo’s forehead. As she smoothed over his curls and tried to smooth out the frown on his forehead, she thought back to that first day the two of them had connected, to the first time she had sang to him.  
Without her knowing, Calypso had begun to hum silently to him. It wasn’t until Piper sleepily muttered a, “That’s so pretty…” that she even realized she’d been doing it out loud. Nonetheless, Calypso continued humming, and Leo’s frown seemed to lessen. Once the song was done, Calypso turned back to speak to Piper, only to notice that the girl had fallen asleep in her chair.  
“Don’t worry,” she murmured quietly to Leo, “everything’s going to be okay. I promise.”


	21. Chapter 21

“Where’s your head at, seaweed brain?” her tone seemed teasing, but for as long as Percy had known Annabeth, he knew that her question was anything but teasing.   
He supposed her question was warranted, he hadn’t exactly said much since Calypso’s arrival, but then again—what could he say? Sure there was a brief, three-minute time period back during the whole Gaea thing that he considered what it’d be like living in the normal world with Calypso existing in it, but there had been, like, two hundred and sixty five other things for him to worry about at the time. He hadn’t really stopped to consider what that would mean for him for very long. Add that to the fact that he’d forgotten about mentioning Calypso to the gods again, and you had a very confused and stressed out son of Poseidon.   
He felt Annabeth’s hand clutch his, and she pulled him to a stop. She was looking down at her feet and biting her lip in a very un-Annabeth manner that made him feel even worse, “…Percy, please just say something.”  
He sighed, “I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. I’m an idiot.”  
“You’re not an idiot,” she half-smiled, “only sometimes, but generally you’re not an idiot.”  
“I forgot about Calypso again, Annabeth, I forgot about her after the Titan War, and I forgot about her again after the Giants…after everything she’s been through, after how she helped me, and after I….” He looked up in frustration, needing to say something he knew Annabeth didn’t want to hear, “She loved me, Annabeth, and I abandoned her. What she must think of me…and it’s not like I didn’t--…I did care for her, she meant something to me…”  
He trailed off as Annabeth’s eyes dropped to the ground, “Does she mean something to you now?”  
“What? No! I mean, I guess, in a sense--“ he cut off at the hurt look on Annabeth’s eyes, “No, not like that! Not like…not like you do…”  
Annabeth took a deep breath, “I think you’re gonna have to talk me through this, seaweed brain.” She mumbled softly.   
Percy sighed, “I don’t love her.” He noticed Annabeth’s shoulders sag with what he could only assume was relief. “But I do care about her, at least I thought I did. She was kind to me and I guess now I just feel…”  
“Guilty?”   
“Yes, maybe that’s it. Guilty. I let her down Annabeth, and I owed her, after everything…”  
“Even after she cursed me?” She’d said it so softly Percy almost thought she’d imagined it.   
Right, he thought, how could I forget? Well this is just a mess. He sighed once more, what was he supposed to do now?  
As if to make matters worse, it was at that moment that his eyes travelled up to the door of the Hypnos cabin, where a certain goddess had just stepped out to squint at the early morning light.   
“You should talk to her.” Annabeth’s voice was muted, not half as commanding as he usually expected it to be.   
Percy looked down at her, “I should.” He kissed her forehead, “We’re okay though, right?”  
She smiled weakly, “Yes, we’re okay.”  
Percy nodded and kissed her lightly on the cheek as he approached the Hypnos cabin, Calypso’s unmoving gaze already locked onto him as he approached.   
“Percy Jackson,” she stated softly, “we meet again.”  
As he stepped closer he couldn’t help but notice her tousled hair, her wrinkly clothes, and just the slightest hint of red in her eyes. She was still inhumanely beautiful, but still…she looked exhausted. Could goddesses look so exhausted?  
“It is good to see you again, Calypso,” he said as the two of them strolled away from the cabin and around the perimeter of the woods, “I guess it’s time we talk.”  
“Yes, I suppose it’s long overdue,” she smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.  
“But first…how’s Leo?” He asked.   
For the first time during the conversation, Calypso showed a trace of emotion—her eyebrows met in a frown and she looked worriedly back in the direction of the Hypnos cabin. “He’s okay now, it looks like he’s just sleeping. It was a rough night for him. Clovis checked on him and said he’d be asleep for a few more hours. Piper kicked me out and said I needed the fresh air.”  
Percy smiled, “She’s kind of demanding when she wants to be, isn’t she?”  
“She cares deeply for her friends.”   
Percy was surprised; already, it seemed Calypso had sized Piper up fairly well. But then again, how could anything about this goddess surprise him?  
Calypso stopped walking and leaned against a tree, “I know why you’ve come to me, Percy Jackson, so go ahead and get it off your chest.” She leveled her gaze at him, and he had a particular feeling that he was an ant being held under a magnifying glass. Calypso had a way of making him feel extremely inept.   
Percy took a deep breath, “I’m sorry. The words aren’t enough to make up for what I did to you, but I needed to tell you nonetheless. I’m sorry that I left you, and I’m sorry that I didn’t make sure the gods followed through with their promises. I was too caught up in my own world to realize what injustice I’d done to you.”  
Calypso nodded, as if knowing this was exactly what he would say, “Yes, I suppose you must feel bad.”  
“I didn’t realize how bad it was until…” He trailed off, unsure how to bring up the subject, “Until I saw how that curse affected Annabeth.”  
At this, Calypso looked confused, “A curse? What…You can’t mean…?” understanding seemed to dawn on her, “Oh Percy, what happened?” She drew a hand to her mouth, a horrified look on her face.   
“We got attacked by some arai while me and Annabeth were stuck in Tartarus” he said it softly, watching Calypso’s face closely, “When she cut one of them down, it triggered a curse…she felt I abandoned her. And I kept calling out to her, but she didn’t hear me. It was horrible to have to see her like that.”  
“Oh no,” she murmured, “I never thought…Oh Percy, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe—I mean to think that you would ever actually encounter an arai…” She pushed off the tree and started pacing, “I said it in anger, I was so angry at you, and I just—I never thought it would ever hurt anyone, I was just so mad at the time, and-and jealous, because you’d forgotten about me and I was so alone….” She stopped pacing and looked up at Percy, and he almost thought he saw tears in her eyes, “Percy you must know I never intended to hurt you and Annabeth, not really. I never imagined it would ever harm you.”  
Percy nodded, knowing this had always been the case. As upset as she may have been, Percy knew Calypso was not cruel, “It’s okay, I forgive you. I was never mad at you to begin with. I know I hurt you…” he hesitated, “but Annabeth…I’m not sure if she feels that way.”  
Calypso cringed, “She must hate me.”  
“No, she doesn’t hate you,” he shook his head, “I just don’t think she knows what to make of you. It’s been long enough for her to let go of any anger she may have had. But you should probably talk to her about all that.”  
“Yes, I probably should,” she murmured to herself.  
Percy took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Look, Calypso, are we…are we okay?”  
Calypso leveled him with that steely gaze once more, the one that made him feel he was being thoroughly dissected, “I suppose like Annabeth, it’s been long enough for me to let go of any anger I may have had.”  
He gave her a half-smile, “So…?”  
Calypso rolled her eyes good naturedly, “Look, Percy Jackson, you did hurt me, but it’s not like I’m still pining after you. I have moved on, you know.”  
Percy nodded and his eyes travelled back to the Hypnos cabin, “Yes, I noticed.”  
“The way I felt for you,” she said slowly, “It wasn’t the same. It was childish and it was adoring and it was a fascination. You were a hero and I was cursed to love you for it from the moment I saw you. But Leo…he was different from the start. I could never love again, not like I love him.”  
There was just the smallest part of Percy that stung at being called second-rate, that tiny little part of him that he’d harbored deep inside him since the second he left Ogygia. The part that would always wonder ‘what if?’ But in a way, that rebellious part of him helped him understand Calypso’s feelings a bit more—she’d been cursed to love every man that came to her island, just as Percy felt he’d been cursed to always wonder what might have been for choosing to leave the same island. Either way, they both knew that it was never meant to be. He truly smiled at Calypso now, “I’m glad you found him. You two seem good together.”  
She smiled back, and this time, it looked genuine, yet wary, almost tired, “Yes, I suppose we do.”  
Percy peered at her closely once more, “But you’re not really the same Calypso I left on that island, are you?”  
Calypso sighed softly, “No, I suppose I’m not at all the same goddess you met.”  
“You look tired.” He said slowly, “But goddesses never look tired…”  
“No, they don’t.”  
He gaped at her, not at all expecting such a candid admission from her, “So you mean to say you…?”  
“I’m not a goddess anymore, if that’s what you’re asking.”   
“Wow,” he muttered, “I never thought…you really did that for him?”  
“Of course,” she mumbled silently, “how could I not?”  
He watched her profile as she stared back at the Hypnos cabin, a wistful smile in her face. With the early morning light, the sun played rather beautifully with her hair and brought out golds and coppers that weren’t normally visible. For a moment, he could see the old Calypso, the one he’d seen standing on that island so many years ago, staring witfully out into the sea…And yet, in an instant, that girl was gone, and there stood the new Calypso. She was the same, yet…stronger. More assured. Confident. And loved.   
Yes, Calypso was definitely the most beautiful mortal he’d ever laid eyes on, but she was not the girl for him. He knew that now, more than ever, as he saw how clearly she was besotted with the Latin fireball. And a pressure he hadn’t realized was within him suddenly released, for he didn’t have to worry about Calypso anymore. She was happy, and he didn’t need to feel responsible for her. She’d found her own way out of her prison…with Leo.   
“You should head back,” he said, “we’ll have plenty of time to catch up later.”  
Calypso nodded as the two began making their way back towards the cabin, “Yes, I’m sure he must be waking up soon…”   
Percy looked up when she trailed off, only to realize Annabeth was standing near the cabin, watching them closely with those grey eyes of hers. “Annabeth,” he smiled at her, “I’m not sure if the two of you have been properly introduced.”  
Annabeth smiled uneasily, “I’m sure we’re past the pleasantries now.”   
Percy frowned, it was unusual for him to see Annabeth behave so unsure of herself.   
Calypso nonetheless extended her hand to Annabeth, and upon shaking it, pulled Annabeth into a hug. The daughter of Athena seemed taken aback but as soon as Calypso’s embrace started, it was over, and she was holding Annabeth’s hands in her own.   
“Annabeth,” she said firmly, “I am so sorry. That curse I wished on you, I should have never done that. It was said in anger and it was a horrible, terrible mistake. I don’t know how I could ever make that up to you.”  
Annabeth’s eyebrows shot up, “Oh…well…it wasn’t…it was a long time ago.” Her eyes locked with his, and he felt that she, like him, was reliving those horrible days in Tartarus for a moment.   
Calypso persisted, “Yes, it was. And I want you to know that my doing that…that’s not me. I don’t wish any harm on you Annabeth, I never did. I was so upset and so jealous…I wasn’t thinking clearly.”  
Annabeth smiled at the ex-goddess, “To think that someone like you could be jealous of a girl like me…”  
Calypso smiled, “Don’t sell yourself short, I’ve heard a lot about your great feats. I was interested to hear about your battle plans for the Games. Very strategic, you honor your mother with such great schemes.”  
Annabeth’s face lit up, “Jason told me some of your suggestions. You should definitely come join us for our next council meeting, I’m sure—“  
At that time, Piper stuck her head out the door of the Hypnos cabin, “Calypso! Clovis says Leo should be waking up within the hour. I figured I’d go get us breakfast while we wait?”  
“Yes, that would be lovely,” Calypso smiled as she walked up to the cabin. She turned back to Percy and Annabeth, “I’m glad we got to talk, Percy Jackson.” Does she always have to say my full name? “And Annabeth, I feel this is not the last we’ll speak of my actions towards you, but I hope you and I may become friends in the future.”  
Annabeth nodded and smiled back at Calypso, “Yes, I think I’d like that.”  
And with that, Calypso strolled past Piper and disappeared from their view. Percy took her hand in his and the two began strolling in the general direction of breakfast.   
“So I take it your talk went well?” she asked.   
Percy nodded, “Yeah, I think so. But to be honest, I’m surprised you forgave her so easily though…I mean I know it wasn’t my grudge to hold, but I thought you’d be more upset at being cursed.”  
Annabeth nodded, “Well of course I was. I think some part of me hated her for a while.” She sighed and looked up at Percy, “But to be honest looking at her now, all I can think about is how I felt when I was under that curse. I felt absolutely miserable, Percy. To feel so abandoned, so unloved…I guess I understand exactly how she felt...” she got up on her tiptoes and pecked him lightly, “and I guess I realized I couldn’t blame her for loving you like that. She truly was feeling awful at that time.”  
Percy grinned, “Well, I’m such a great guy, you know…”  
Annabeth laughed and shoved him lightly, “Sure, keep telling yourself that, Seaweed brain.”  
Percy laughed, feeling like the weight he’d felt since the moment Calypso stepped foot in Camp Half-Blood lifting off his shoulders. Feeling the need to indulge Annabeth, given that she’d been so accepting of Calypso’s apologies, he broached the one subject he was sure would get Annabeth in a great mood, “So about these war strategies…”


End file.
